


Twist of Fate

by karenninaaa



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Dad!Tony, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, I just want them to be happy, Iron Dad, Iron man 3 altered, Pepperony - Freeform, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Pre-Infinity War, Tony Stark Has A Heart, lots of them - Freeform, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-16
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-02-15 09:00:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 72,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13027689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karenninaaa/pseuds/karenninaaa
Summary: A single picture triggered Tony Stark to suspect that Peter Parker was his son, biologically.





	1. Chapter 1

After a long day of boring meeting with the pain in the ass that was Ross in Washington D.C., Tony Stark didn’t expect to get a call from an unknown number as he slid in on the passenger’s seat of his car and as Happy drove them off the road.

He answered it anyway because he needed a distraction from feeling so pissed off with the said pain in the ass. Tony could swear that the pain-in-the-ass o-meter was always rising up every time he would meet him. Tony was doing his best to clean the resolution for the accords in favour of the Avengers but Ross was more like putting hot chilli sauce on it. He was about to shoot some snide comments when he heard a noise on the other line

“No, Ned! Why did you do that?! I told you we can figure this out on our own-”

Tony recognized easily the voice in the background. It was the squeaky voice belongs to a fifteen year old he knew too well, Peter Parker.

“But we clearly need his help, Peter!” This time it was another voice who spoke, a voice unfamiliar to him

Tony immediately connected to the AI on the suit of Peter. It was offline. Meaning he wasn’t out spidermanning and risking his neck for god who knows what. So the life and death situation was out of the list.

“We just have to improvise-”

“You can’t just do improvise on that! It’s a big week and people from another schools are coming! You have to come up with a cool stuff.”

Tony decided to speak or else, he’s betting all his assets that they wouldn’t finish arguing until he butt in “I hope you do realize that you are calling a person whose time is worth of gold, so stop wasting it and Mr. Parker, I thought we reached the mutual understanding that my number is branded classified, therefore it wasn’t supposed to be given out to a random people out there.”

Silence.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Stark.” Peter mumbled on the other line and then his voice went octave higher and spoke in a haste. “But that’s Ned, my bestfriend. I gave him your number for emergency purposes because he knows I’m Spiderman so-”

“Well, is this part of an emergency purpose? Why is he calling me?” Tony answered.

“No it’s not-”

“Yes, it is!” Ned butted in. “Peter it involves your grades, do you want to fail on it?”

“Of course not. We can’t afford  _nugget_ to have failing grades. What’s going on?” Tony put it on a loud speaker and put his phone on the storage box attached to the armrest of the car door. He leaned his elbow on the armrest as Happy glanced at his boss through the rear mirror.

“Peter was one of the students who got chosen to make a mini robot he can showcase on the robotics week on the school but he’s lacking some of the resources to use for it.” Ned answered.

“Wow, kid. I admire your lung capacity for air, how could you say all of that in one breath?” Tony said as he heard Peter groaning in the background and mumbling along those lines of bestfriend and traitor.

“Um, thanks? And I have no idea how…” Ned said uncertainly.

“What’s your name kid?”

“Ned.”

“Okay, Christopher, here’s what you’re gonna do.” Tony said “You and your friend in crisis will go to the Avengers Facility, go straight to my lab, Friday and Pepper are there to assist you, and you have all the materials there that you would need for your howdy-dowdy techy project. Tell May that you will be there.”

There’s a beat of silence again

“OhmygodIamgoingtoo?” Ned said excitedly, words jumbling in his mouth.

But to Tony’s astonishment, he understood it. “Yes, I just said that.”

“PeterIamfinallygoingtothefreakingAvengersfa-”

There’s some sort of fumbling on the other end “Mr. Stark, you don’t have to do that,”

“But I did, Underoos. So don’t sweat it.” Tony looked at the window of the car.

“Thank you. It means so much-”

“All right, let’s cut the speech right there. You didn’t win the Oscars. Got the message. You’re grateful, I get it. Just do me a favor, don’t turn my lab into a war zone. I don’t want to see smoke coming out of the window far ahead.”

“Yes, Mr. Stark we will be careful. Thank you”

Tony hung up.

“Friday, look after the spiderling in the lab, will you?” Tony said.

“Sure thing boss.” Friday answered.

He sent Pepper a message with the same thought.

Then, he continued to gaze outside through the window, though after a while, he turned to Happy.“Tell you what Hap, let’s cancel the Gala Party later and head back Upstate.”

Happy smirked. “He’s growing on you, boss.”

“I heard nothing.” Tony faced the window again.

Tony wouldn’t admit this to anyone but he knew that something had already shifted the very first moment he set foot on the Parker apartment and met personally the crime fighting spiderling in onesies. He knew that the moment Tony invited him to Germany, the name Peter Parker was something that would stick on him like a super glue and there’s no undoing it. The genius billionaire was aware that he’s hauling in another responsibility despite being the emotionally crippled that he was. He knew the future consequences of his action. After all, he’s a futurist and well acquainted with that ‘C’ word. 

However, if there’s something he miscalculated –which was rare on his part, was the attachment that would spring out of the mentoring he appointed upon himself. With emotionally crippled being said, he just didn’t know to deal with all the sentiment that goes with that responsibility package he took, and since there was just no role model to look after. That attachment just got worst after all the flying vulture guy fiasco happened a month ago. God forbid what he would do if he just found Peter Parker lifeless somewhere. See, before Tony Stark knew it, he just chained himself to that –okay  _sometimes_ adorable spider kid. Tony let a tiny smile grace on his lips.

The night already came as Tony arrived at the facility. Friday immediately informed him that Peter was at the lounge area together with his friend and Pepper. Tony heard laughter as he neared the lounge area, there’s light in there that was slightly illuminating the dimmed hallway he’s walking in.

Tony stopped at the doorway, his hands on his pants’ pocket. Not from far away,Pepper was sitting at the sofa adjacent to where Peter Parker and his friend were sitting. There were opened boxes of pizza on the center table. Friday didn’t seem to alert them on his arrival as they seemed oblivious to his presence, and as they continued to laugh on something they were talking about. Pepper’s back was facing Tony so his fiancée didn’t see him just yet, but Peter Parker just did when his eyes widen on him.

“Mr. Stark!” Peter exclaimed.

Well, that was Tony’s cue for his entrance, he walked towards them. “Well, well, well. What is this? Why am I not invited to the mini patottie party we have here?”

Pepper twisted in her seat to look at Tony, a surprise look was etched on her face. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at the Gala dinner in Washington.”

“It was no fun so I decided not to go.” Tony sat on the armrest of the couch Pepper was sitting on.

“He cancelled on it.” Happy said waltzing in to the room.

“Yes, because it’s no fun.” Tony countered as he leaned forward to get the pizza slice on the box. He flicked off the red pepper on it before leaning back and taking a bite into it. Happy also got himself a slice and sat comfortably on the empty seat.

Pepper laughed “You are as bad as Peter, why do you hate red pepper so much.”

“I don’t hate you.” Tony looked at Pepper but he also glanced at Peter who was munching on his red pepper-less pizza. He also noticed the pile of sliced red pepper on the lid of the box. “At least Nickelback here has a superb taste to note that red peppers are disgusting on a pizza.”

“I know right!” Peter agreed, enthusiasm bubbling in the air “Hawaiian is so much better –no offense Miss Potts, I know you ordered the whole pizza and I appreciate it and I like it-”

“Yes and more pineapples!” Tony said.

“Yeah! Aunt May always add extra pineapples when we ordered pizza because she knows I love pineapples.”

“Huh. I knew I was going in for a right person when I recruited you to our super secret boy band.” Tony said pointing his slice on Peter and then he continued to eat it.

“Oh, here they go, starting  _geeking_ out again.” Pepper air-quoted the word  _geeking._

“I always thought that Pineapples are like the last option for the pizza inventors because they couldn’t think of anything to put on pizza, Pineapples are like off for toppings.” For the first time since Tony’s arrival, Ned spoke up.

“I couldn’t agree more to you, kid.” Happy said and Pepper nodded in agreement.

“You are talking blasphemy!” Tony stood as he picked up a napkin to wipe his hands after finishing his slice. “I couldn’t stand this anymore. Come on, Parker to the lab, how’s the techy project going on? Have you come up with something that would make Dum-E jealous?” Peter stood up to join Tony as they started to head out the lounge area.

“Eh, not really Mr. Stark.” Peter said bashfully. “But can I ask you about the coiling on an electromagnet? What do you think …” Peter’s voice drifted off as the two walked farther out the room.

Unknown to them, three set of eyes are looking at them fondly.

“If I didn’t know better” Ned said “I would think that Mr. Stark is the long lost father of Peter.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Hmm…” Tony was leaning forward with his elbows folded on the table studying the prototype model sitting on the same table. Of course, it was way too far from being finished as they just started a while back. But Tony admired the amount of progress Peter made on doing the model in a short amount of time. Tony’s designer coat was thrown haphazardly across the table, as his sleeves were rolled to his elbows and the necktie was loose around his neck.

Peter was watching him a little bit more fearful as he waited for the verdict of his mentor. He was quite worried about the fact that maybe he did badly on the prototype and Mr. Stark would disagree on it. Worst, throw it on a nearby trash can because his robot was a crap.

“Nice job on this prototype” Tony finally said as Peter mentally sighed in relief “But the wirings are little taut, it would probably snap when the robot moved, also the calibration was too stiff that would slow down your bot. Have you started on the programming?” The billionaire glanced at Peter.

“Y-yeah, a little bit.” Peter said “Ned’s been helping me since he knows more about that stuff.”

“And I knew better than the both of you, Fri, pull out Peter’s coding for his bot, let’s take a peek on it.” Tony dragged a swivel chair to the table and sat on it.

“Yes boss.” Friday’s voice echoed in the lab as the holographic images appeared. Different sets of letters, numbers and punctuation filled the images.

“How did you-it was on my lap-” Peter sighed. “-Nevermind.” He just stood a little bit closer to Tony but the personal space was still there.

“Kid, don’t act like this was the first time you see me work and you should already know my M.O by now and grab a chair would you, there’s no law stating that Peter Parker isn’t allowed to sit.” Tony said as he continued to look up, studying the programming sequences in front of him. His hands started to move on the space, modifying the sequence.

“Y-yes, of course.” Peter obliged as he also dragged a chair and sat next to Tony. Tony started to give him advice about the programming.

This situation wasn’t new to Peter, to watch his mentor, idol, hero and role model Tony Stark to be alongside with him and to have the privilege to watch Tony work, could it be as Iron Man or as just Tony stark, genius and philanthropist. Yet, there were still moments which felt like that this was so surreal and that he had to slap himself back to the reality. Tony Stark was just someone he used to watch on tv, now he was helping Peter on his freaking school project. Peter had noticed that ever since he captured the Vulture guy, Tony had been visible in his life more than ever. He didn’t know if he had earned some golden cookie after that fiasco, that he was experiencing something like this. And it felt good, that there’s another male adult sort of father figure in his life that he could turn to, and talked about science-ish stuff that both of them could understand and relate to. Peter just hoped that Tony Stark wouldn’t leave like the past father figures he had. He knew that they didn’t mean to leave him like that but still, there’s something in his chest that still twist at the thought that they’re just gone, and he wasn’t prepared to experience something like that again for the third time.

“-and you’re not listening to everything I said which is completely rude, spider kid.” Tony Stark suddenly turned and faced Peter which surprised the heck out of him.

“W-what? N-no, I was listening!” Peter squeaked

“What’s the last thing I said?” Tony raised an eyebrow at him

“Uhm…”

“See, you clearly weren’t listening because it’s not uhmm that sounds like a bee” Tony said then he sighed “You really do have issues on listening, don't you?”

“I’m sorry.” Peter mumbled

Tony waved his hand, in dismissal. “Anyway, as I’ve said before and I’m going to repeat it because your mind was on Disneyland, Mickey Mouse was good at programming and I’m going to teach you some shortcuts on codes so it wouldn’t take all your time doing it.”

“It’s Ned, Mr. Stark…”

Tony waved his hand again, then he clapped his hand once. The hologram screen vanished. He looked at his wrist watch. “Look at that, it’s near your bed time and May is going to murder me if I didn’t cart you home on time. Pack up now, boyo. Just come back here to finish your project.”

“I can come back here?”

“Of course, where else are you going to finish your work?”

“C-can Ned come by too from time to time?”

“If he must, he’s your sidekick after all.”

“More like a guy in the chair.” Peter grinned at him. Then he started to pack his things in his backpack. He didn’t notice that a paper fell off from his backpack.

Tony bent down to pick it up. “Hey kid something fell from-” He paused when he realized that it wasn’t just a paper but a photograph of a man and a woman standing close to each other. The man had his arms wrapped around the woman’s shoulder and they were brightly smiling.

“Oh!” Peter said looking at what Tony was holding. “Uh, it’s my parents, Richard and Mary Parker.”

 _I know._ Tony thought. Of course, even before introducing Peter in the world of superheroes, he already made an early background research about Peter. He knew that Peter’s parent died in a plane crash when he was young. So the kid went to his aunt and uncle’s care and in the later years, Ben Parker also passed away. Something caught Tony’s eyes on the picture; he narrowed his eyes on it. The background was oddly familiar to him.

“We had some class presentation about parents on one of my subjects and I had to bring a picture of them” Peter said, and then he frowned when Tony’s narrowing his eyes on the picture.

“Uh, is there something wrong?”

“Kid,” Tony looked up at Peter. “Do you know where this photo was taken?”

Peter nodded. “I was young but I clearly remember, mom always looking at that picture and telling me that it was in Switzerland where she first met dad. It was sort a technical conference.”

For some unknown reason, something in Tony’s chest clenched. “Do you perhaps know what year was it?”

Peter nodded again “Yep, year 2000.”

Tony’s breathe hitched. He whispered. “I was at that conference too.”

Peter’s eyes widened excitedly, oblivious to Tony’s uneasiness. “Really? Did you meet? I know it’s a long time ago but maybe you remembered?”

Tony forced a smiled “Sorry, kiddo. There were a lot of people in that conference. I barely remember whom I talked to” He gave the picture to Peter.

“Oh I see” Peter’s expression fell a little bit but then he smiled at his mentor. “Well, it’s just proves how small the world is. Maybe you also don’t remember the kid you saved back at Stark Expo.”

“Not to brag but I saved a lot of kids annually and I’ve done a lot Stark Expos, so you have to be more specific on that.”

Peter continued to smile “A Stark Expo where Hammer Industries’ drones went amok and there’s this naïve little boy who thought he can fight a drone by himself, so he faced this drone and raised his fake gauntlet thinking that there’s going to be some sort of blaster that’s going to come out of it just like on Iron Man, and then poof the drone exploded when a blast hit him. That’s when I get a first real glimpse of Iron Man; he was standing beside me complementing me that I did a good job. You saved my life that day, Mr. Stark.”

Tony wanted to compliment Peter again for doing a good job of making Tony Stark speechless because not all people could be able to. He remembered it now, the kid who was wearing an Iron Man masked bravely facing a drone that was about to kill him, and it was this close on killing Peter.

“Well, I could say, that nothing seemed to change, you’re still quite naïve and ready to face bad guys heads on…” Tony spoke after a moment.

In which Peter had laughed it off “Yeah you could say that and look how small the world is.”

“Yeah, it truly is…” Tony agreed

After Peter and Ned left the facility and Happy driving them home, Tony was left staring at the empty space of his lab and he was still in the same position that Peter left him.

“Friday” Tony drawled out after a while

“Yes boss” the AI answered

“Can you draw out some data about Bern 2000 Technical Conference I attended to; confirm if Mary and Richard Parker were really there. Find if I talked to Mary Parker somehow. And also…” Tony exhaled willing his nerves to calm down. He gulped “And also, can you get some info about the hotel room I sleep in, who I am with that night in that hotel room.”

“As you wish, boss but it would probably take some time since it’s a record of a long time ago, and there’s a probability that they disposed that kind of data that dated way back.” the AI answered.

“Just, just get whatever relevant data you came across with” Tony answered. He knew the huge probability since he didn’t stumble on that kind of info when he was doing a background research on Peter’s parents.

“Understand, boss”

For the life of Tony Stark, if there’s a downside of being a genius, there were tiny things that he had a have time remembering, like what he had for breakfast or who was the woman the old Tony Stark hooked up with the other night. Because his brain received too much information, his brain needed to delete some insignificant memories to make space for some more relevant information. Now some of those tiny insignificant details his brain deleted, seemed to become so valuable all of a sudden. There’s a huge part of his brain telling him that it was impossible and it didn’t happen, that there were tons of women out there that old Tony could have slept with and it was really impossible that Mary Parker was one of those women.

Yet, his gut seemed to be telling something otherwise, the possibility no matter how small the chances were, because he remembered now how he had the same gut clenching feeling when he stumbled upon the name of Mary Parker on the first time he did a research on Peter’s parents, however it was a feeling he ignored before because it seemed so insignificant. Now, he couldn’t overlook that again when it blown into something big and smacking him in the face.

Tony rolled his chair to his desk where several screens were displaying information about Peter. He calculated Peter's birthday from the date of the conference. He let out a curse. He pulled out the images of the Parker family including the recent picture of Peter. He looked at the resemblance of the kid to his parents. And Tony wanted to smack his genius head on the table. Peter has dark brown eyes which were so far off with his parents both set of deep green eyes. Where on earth did Peter inherit his eyes then? Then Tony glanced unconsciously to the other blank screen. His dimmed reflection was staring back at him. That’s right; Tony Stark has the same set of dark brown eyes. Why didn’t he notice that before? Of course, his mind was fully occupied with avenging the world, fighting the alien and bad guys and feeling betrayed and angry all the same.

“Fu-” Tony exhaled “-Nny-freaking-frack son of a bitch”

Then all the small things Peter did, the mannerisms he always shows, the love for building stuff, the way he thinks, they all flashed in Tony’s head, things that seemed nothing but awfully and frighteningly similar to Tony’s characteristics. And of course, he just noticed all of those just now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos and comments are highly appreciated. They give life! lol. I’ve been meaning to do a fic about them ever since I finished watching Spiderman: Homecoming which was a long time ago. I just didn’t have the motivation to write but now I do so here it is. And honestly i need more peter parker and tony stark fics in my life. hahaha. Hope you enjoyed it!.


	3. Chapter 3

_“Hi. What’s your name?”_

_“Hi. I’m Mary.”_

_“Wow, that’s a beautiful name, I would have introduced myself but I felt like you already know who I am.”_

_“Yes, who wouldn’t know Tony Stark.”_

_“Right, you know what, I want to see your research, you’re a physicist right? Let’s go to your secret lair.”_

Tony snapped his eyes open as he gasped. He jolted on his bed and sat upright.

“Tony, are you all right? What happened?” Pepper said who also woke up beside him. She rubbed his back comfortingly. Then she asked in a soft voice. “Was it another nightmare?”

“N-no, not really.” Tony drew out a breath. He looked at Pepper “Pep, what if, just what if, you know hypothetically speaking. I got a son I didn’t know existed, then suddenly, he’s just there in front of me”

Pepper paused as she looked at him “Are you serious this time? You know we always have cases of kids claiming that they’re your children and we always prove in the end, that they’re not-”

“-well, it’s just hypothetical like I said and I was just thinking the possibility-”

“Tony, if there’s really a son of yours that exist; you’ll be a good father. I know it.” Pepper leaned her head to Tony’s shoulder.

“Are you sure you’re talking about me?”

Pepper laughed. “Oh, Tony, you seemed so oblivious to it, but look how you treat Peter, it’s like you already stepped up as his father.”

Tony hiccupped. “Let’s go back to sleep. I’m just having some midnight deep thinking cold, you know me…”

“Good Morning, Friday, how’s your school homework going?” Tony greeted as he reached his lab the next morning. He sat behind his desk.

“It was confirmed that Mary and Richard Parker had been in that Bern 2000 Technical Conference.” Friday answered dutifully. “But no known pictures have been found that could confirm that you were with Mary Parker, it was possible that the Stark PR Team had something to do with this to avoid raising issues about you, boss. Also, no relevant information about the hotel room and who you were with that night, however, according to the guest information about that party, you were with Mr. Happy Hogan-”

“Call Happy.” Tony ordered immediately.

“Sure thing boss.”

“Am I going to collect the kid from his school today?” Happy asked Tony, first thing.

Tony sighed “Yeah, you are but that’s later, he has to work on his tech project here on the lab but that’s not what I want to talk about-”

“-Well, that’s a first after a long while.”

“Do you remember Bern 2000 Tehnical Conference?” Tony asked.

“Man, I’m not a genius like you, you can’t expect me to remember something that happened a long time ago.”

“I can’t remember it either that’s why I’m asking you, that’s why you should also know that genius people can also have memory crisis.”

“Oh, that’s news”

“No. It’s not.” Tony said playing with a small screw driver he found on the desk, “So you don’t remember anything? The snippets of the conference or even the thirty second time frame of it?”

“What exactly are you looking for in that conference?”

“The woman I slept with that night.”

There’s a beat of silence. “Jesus, Tony. Are you seriously asking for that-?”

“-Yeah, I am.”

“Finding a woman you slept with is like pages of an encyclopaedia, there’s just too many of them. So no I don’t remember the woman.”

“Even the name? Also, I take offense on the metaphor you used, I’m a textbook narcissistic”

“I couldn’t remember the faces you hooked up with much less the names, boss”

Tony sighed.

“But what’s with the sudden interest on that? That’s another first.”

“Nothing, Hap. Nothing. Ciao. Don’t forget the kid, mama bear.” And Tony hung up.

Later that day, his loud AC/DC song was pierced through by a never-ending energetic voice of Peter Parker, as Tony worked on the arm armor of his suit. He muted down his music.

“Hey Mr. Stark what are you working on? Is it a new Iron man suit?” Peter put his backpack down on a nearby chair as he approached the table where Tony Stark was.

Tony shrugged in his seat. “Not really, just modifying the flight stabilizer.”

Peter nodded. “You know Mr. Stark I’ve read something about the circuits that I think would be really helpful on my project… “And Peter started to rumble about his new discovered information as he walked towards his robot model on another table.

For the love of everything, here’s another frighteningly similar characteristics: textbook maniac, tony sniffed. He stood up from his seat and abandoned his work. He walked towards Peter. They worked in sync on Peter’s robot, too absorb in their own algorithms to notice the time passing by. Before they knew it, Peter was bidding good bye to go home and thanking Mr. Stark profusely again for his help.

“Kid, I swear if you say thank you one more time, I’m going to start a thank you jar here.” Tony said. Peter just ducked down flushing as he made his way out the lab.

After Peter left, Tony was about to walk back on his abandoned arm armor when he noticed a glass that was on Peter’s table, a glass that Peter used to drink his juice a while back. Tony was having ideas that also terrify him all the same.

Getting a DNA test result could take weeks for average people but Tony Stark wasn’t your average people out there so in a short notice, Friday was about to report him the result.

“Friday, give me the roll.” Tony was sitting on the chair behind his desk on the lab. He was playing yet again with a small screw driver.

“Boss, it’s 99.9% matched.”

Tony dropped the screw driver.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally posted on tumblr without knowing if i would continue it after this but now i decided to so i posted it here. Thanks for reading! Kudos and comments are very much welcome. Tell me what you think! :)


	4. Chapter 4

“As in Peter Benjamin Parker?” Tony’s eyes were wide. “Are you sure-? No that’s rhetorical don’t answer it.”

Tony leaned his elbows on his desk as he covered his face with his hands.

“Boss, you’re having symptoms of an incoming anxiety-”

“Highly aware Fri, and this was so much worst.”

Tony tried to control his breathing by inhaling longer and exhaling.

“But according to your database you’re just having that kind of symptoms when alien wor-”

“And you’d better hold that thought, dear.” Tony leaned back on his chair as he took a small gasp and hard gulped. He stared into nothingness.

Pepper Potts walked in on her fiancé’s lab and saw that Tony was sitting in his 1932 Ford Flathead roadster. In front him was two holographic screens. He seemed to be watching some video. Pepper paused and took it as a bad sign, he was just with that car when something had gone terribly wrong, worst than having a fight on a people he treated as a family. Tony never sat there even coming home from Siberia.

“Tony what’s wrong? You cancelled all your appointments today.” Pepper asked softly as she resumed her steps towards him. She walked around towards the other side of the car.

“There’s no surprise there, that’s what I do every day.” Tony said dully as his eyes never left the video he was watching.

When Pepper got closer, she saw that the video Tony was watching was about Spiderman stopping an incoming car from crashing on a bus.

“But one of those appointments involved Peter Parker being here in your lab, you never did that.” She continued “And now you’re watching a video of him, well, spiderman” she noticed a brown folder lying on the seat next to Tony. She bent down and picked it up. “What’s this?”

“Yeah, that’s the reason why, that happened” Tony said

Pepper looked briefly at Tony before opening the folder. She quickly read it and froze. She just read about a DNA Test Result. Her breathe caught in her throat, her mouth slightly parted open as she gazed back at Tony. She whispered. “Oh my god.”

“Yeah.”

“S-so this was what you’re talking about last night?”

“Yeah.”

Pepper opened the car door and slid in. She put the folder on her lap as she hugged Tony. Tony just leaned on her.

“I’m still trying to grasp this whole thing,” Pepper said. “But it must be harder for you.”

Tony broke away from her hug. He looked again at the screen; another video of Spiderman was being played. He leaned back as Pepper held his hand. “Peter Benjamin Parker was six years old when his parent’s died on a plane crash. He was fourteen when his uncle, Benjamin Parker found dead on a dark alley shot by assholes muggers. Two father figures he had in his lifetime, gone.” He gestured his free hand.

Tony clenched his teeth before speaking again. His voice was hard. “Now, he’s fifteen and he’s about to discover that there’s a glitch on a life he lived in and believed. It felt like he’s been robbed again of another father, he deserves to know that. I deserved to know that. And you know what’s worst Pep? I felt like I’m like my father. During those years Peter’s growing, I was supposed to be there doing what dad’s supposed to do, but no, I was on god knows where doing god knows what!” At the last part Tony’s voice raised as he banged his free hand on the steering wheel in frustration and repeatedly. “And that’s what exactly Howard Stark was in my life, _away, always._ ”

Pepper closed her eyes briefly, she rubbed Tony’s shoulder comfortingly “But Tony you didn’t know-”

“And I should have! No matter what means of knowing it, I should have known. Come on, I’m considering myself a genius and I couldn’t even know that I have a son.” Tony leaned forward resting his forehead on the steering wheel. Pepper also leaned to rest her head on Tony’s shoulder.

The next day, first thing in the morning, Tony Stark in black suit and with sunglasses on, was on the road driving a sleek audi gray car. There’s a bouquet of flowers and a brown folder sitting on the passenger’s seat. He had three destinations for that day.

For his first destination, he parked in front of a cemetery. He picked up the bouquet and climbed down the car. After a while, Tony Stark reached the tombs of the Parkers. Mary Parker’s tomb was in between of Richard Parker and Benjamin Parker. He bent down to put the bouquet on Mary Parker’s tomb.

“No offense that there were no flowers for the two of you.” Tony Stark said as he straightened up glancing in between the tombs of Richard Parker and Benjamin Parker. “I actually came here for Mary Parker. I have a whole speech prepared for her.”

“You know, Mary,” Tony started, pulling out his sunglass. “If I can do abra kadabra magic, the first thing I would do is to bring you back to life not because I’m being generous or out of good will, but because I wanted to ask you face to face the only question’s going around my head: _Why. Why didn’t you tell me?_ I was everywhere and you couldn’t bother to drop a visit and be like: ‘Hey, you’ve got a son, you want to meet him?’ Or no, if you feel like you don’t want me in his life because I was not exactly the role model you’ve seen on tv, or if you don’t want to see my annoying face anymore, at least a post letter maybe telling me I have a son.” Tony pursed his lips playing with his sunglass with one hand.

“It’s something that’s gonna haunt me for years you know, not knowing the reason why. Oh, is that your punishment because I’m a shitty person? Well, congratulations, you succeeded on bringing your punishment on me, even on grave. I couldn’t bring back the time that I lost with Peter and you know what’s gonna stay with us for some time and who knows how long, the betrayal and hurt that Peter could or would feel about his whole life being a lie, and the pinching sensation in my chest, something worst than having a shrapnel in my heart. He could have the same question as I do.” Tony tried to catch his breath.

“There are millions of things I still wanted to say or ask but I know it’s going to be futile now since you’re not going to answer me anyway so I won’t do it.” Tony paused. “I guess, just sit back there wherever you are and sip your earl grey tea if it’s available there in wherever-you-are or if you even drink tea, you don’t have to worry about Peter, because as long as he’s on my sight, I’m going to make sure he gets everything he needs because he truly deserves whatever this world has to offer. Peter’s a good person and it’s something I couldn’t hold against you because you raised him well, _all_ of you raised him well.” Tony put back his sunglass on “And I’m going to make sure that I would die first just to prevent Peter from reaching the same fate as yours.” With that, Tony Stark turned around and started to walk away from the tombs.

Soon, Tony’s car was zooming out from the cemetery. For his second destination, it was a certain apartment in Queens. Tony found himself walking on the hallway of Peter’s apartment clutching a brown folder. His sunglass was hanging on the collar of his shirt, so people easily recognized him and did double takes on him as he walked pass by on that hallway. He stopped in front of a certain door. He took a deep breath and knocked at the door. Seconds later, May Parker opened the door.

“Hi, hot aunt.” Tony greeted.

“I swear, Stark, I’m so tempted to slam this door close to your face.” May said.

“Yep, you still haven’t forgiven me for bringing your nephew to our ninja society.” Tony said “But can I at least come in, if it’s not so imposing.”

May exhaled. She stepped aside and pushed the door wider.

“Thank you.” Tony waltzed in inside. He went straight to the living room and sat comfortably at the couch.

May vanished in the kitchen and Tony was praying that she’s not going to bring out a tray of another bizarre loaf to endure eating. She’s still hates him, right? So there wouldn’t be too much hospitality there. To Tony’s relief, when May came out, she was just holding two mugs of coffee she put down on the center table.

“You said you wanted to talk about something, what is it?” May sat adjacent to Tony.

“I’m not going to be found dead after drinking this coffee, aren’t I?” Tony sipped on his mug.

“I could do better than that.”

“Right.” Tony put down the mug.

“So what is it you want to talk about?”

“I wanted to talk about Peter.”

May frowned. “He’s not in danger, is he?”

“Oh certainly not, he’s perfectly safe at school at this moment.”

May visibly sighed in relief. “Then what about Peter?”

“I wanted to know about his parents.”

“Peter’s parents? They died a long time ago, what else is there to know about them?”

Tony exhaled. “All right, I’m going to stop playing hopscotch here. Do you know that Peter was not Richard Parker’s biological son?”

May gasped as she covered her mouth in shock. Her eyes wide as a saucer. “H-how did you. . .?”

“So you knew,” Tony pressed his lips together. “How long did you know about that? How did you know about that?”

“I am not stupid, Stark. Peter was nothing alike his father, physical appearance and all. Ben and I noticed it when Peter was a toddler. So I asked Mary about it and she confessed-”

“Lucky you.” Tony mumbled.

May frowned a little bit. “Yeah, Richard knows about it but he treated Peter like his own.”

“He’d better be. Does Peter know?”

“No.” May answered. “How did you know about that?”

“Are you seriously asking the person who discovered about your nephew being a crime fighting spiderboy?”

With that, May’s hard look was back. “Right.”

“Have you tried to find the real father or do you know who it is?”

“Mary never told me who and she’s already happy with Richard.”

Tony nodded in acknowledgement.

“But why are you interested about it?”

“Oh, I have every right to be.”

May raised an eyebrow at him. Tony leaned forward to pick up the folder on the table and gave it to May. May accepted it, baffled. She opened it as Tony looked away.

After a while, May exclaimed. “What the &^($@%”_^(&_£*£”&£@()!!”

“Oh my god. You and your very wild and artistic mouth,” Tony winced. “That was way worse than when you discovered you have Spiderman for a nephew. I’m starting to worry about Peter.”

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?”

“The DNA Test result wasn’t kidding.”

May stood up, hyperventilating. “Give me a moment. I’m just going to get some water.”

“Yeah, sure, just holler when you’re going into cardiac arrest.”

“$@%& YOU STARK!”

“Sorry can’t. I’m already engaged.”

After a moment, May had come back from the kitchen, much calmer than before. She sat back again. She stared at Tony.

“How can you joke and be so calm about this.” May asked.

“Oh believe me, I’m not. We just have the same reaction but less mouthing of colourful words.”

May inhaled. “I can’t even- I don’t know where to start- Are you sure you’re showing me the real thing? How did you even came across of doing DNA?”

“May, breathe.”

May breathe in and out.

“I had my suspicion when I learned that Mary was at the same technical conference I went to before. Then I remembered something vaguely about talking to a woman named Mary who’s a physicist, I’m still not quite sure about that because I don’t really remember clearly things like that. But all I know was I tangoed with a woman that night, you know what I mean. I did the math on Peter’s birthday and the day of that conference, it’s awfully matching. And let’s face it. Peter has my eyes.”

May stared at Tony for a moment before closing her eyes. She let out another deep breathe. “Oh my god. What are we going to do about it? What are we going to tell Peter? Are you going to tell him about it? Or me? Or. . .”

“Can I go to Peter’s room? Do you mind?” Tony asked suddenly.

“I don’t see any problem why you can’t.” May sighed.

So Tony stood up and headed to Peter’s room. He opened the door and went it. He looked around. It still looked the same when he first came here to recruit Spiderman. Same small and cramped room, devices that were so out of date sat in the corner, action figures and textbook on the small desk. Posters pinned to the wall, even Iron Man poster was there. Tony sat on the bed, it creaked on his weight. May was at the door, she leaned on her side to the door frame. She crossed her arms.

“I don’t know anything about him.” Tony started. “Aside from being Spiderman, his love for science and tech, his genius mind –oh, I think he likes orange juice a lot.”

“He does.” May smiled.

“What are even those?” Tony pointed out on the action figures on a shelf. “Does he like those too?”

May nodded still smiling. “Those are Star Wars figurines; he likes that movie series a lot.”

“See, I don’t even know that.”Tony said looking down briefly then he gazed back at May. “So that makes me a little bit hesitant to claim the dad spot immediately. I’m basically like a stranger to him and him to me.”

“Well, that’s true _but_ you’re not that a stranger to him.” May said. “He’s like a first grader when you told the world that you’re Iron Man. Ever since that day, he’s onto you a lot. He’s always watching you on tv, he talked a lot about you even now. He even begged me to go to your Expos even if we’re reluctant because he almost died on one of your expos he attended to.  But still, he wanted to be closer to you as physically as possible. He’s always interested to know everything about you. You are his hero and idol.”

“His life is going to change when he knows about it.” Tony said.

“It’s nothing new, Stark, he’s life already changed when you first stepped on this apartment and recruited him to be part of your battle in which my blood still boils when-”

“All right.” Tony stood up “I’m going to step out of here, before you start hurling Peter’s things at me.”

“They were back on the living when May spoke again. “When are you going to tell him?”

“Soon but not now, yet.” Tony said.

“He likes you a lot, Stark.”

“Do you think that’s going to change when he learned the truth?”

“One thing’s for sure, he’s going to be hurt about it. But he’s Peter, he’s got a good heart.”

“I seriously hope that his good heart will work on me.”

“He’s bummed out yesterday when you cancelled on him. He didn’t exactly tell me about it but I can tell. I felt like he’s going to use every opportunity just to be close to you.”

Tony sighed.

“After you tell him, will you, will you going to take him away from here? I understand that you wanted him under your name and-”

“May, it’s still up to Peter, okay. He can be here or he can be at mine when he feels like it. You still deserve to be with him after all the things you’ve been through together. It’s going to be unfair to you if I just suddenly pluck him out of your life. Besides, I don’t want to rush him on things like this.”

“Thank you-”

“So am I forgiven-”

“No.”

“Okay.”

That concluded Tony’s visit to May as he went out that building and climbed in on his car. He was going to go to his last destination for that day. Tony Stark parked on the parking lot of Midtown School of Science and Technology. He was way too early for Peter’s class dismissal, so he fished out his starkphone and put it on the dashboard, holographic screen projected on the windshield.

“Okay, let’s go back to square one, Friday, pull out all the logs you have with Peter Parker and let’s have a debriefing on my son.”

“Sure thing, boss.”

He leaned back on his seat and started to eat the hotdog sandwich he bought on a stand on the way to the school.

“Boss!”

Tony jolted on his seat, his sunglass askew on his nose. He blinked as his vision adjusted on his surroundings.

“Boss, it’s already 2:45 p.m. Peter should be on his way out.” Friday reported him.

“Goddamn it, I felt like my spine turned into cement. My leg feels numb too.” Tony groaned as he threw his sunglass on the seat next to him. He stretched on his seat and some bones gave him a satisfying pop.

“That’s what happened when you took a nap for an hour in a same position.”

“Which was a bad idea. Worst idea I ever had.” Tony said. He noticed that there were now students on the parking lot who’s ogling his car.

“Fri, give spiderling a heads up that Tony Stark is waiting for him on the parking lot, and I am going to turn into a shrubbery if he makes me wait any longer. Uhh, don’t say the last part that’s an expression.”

“Yes, boss.”

“Gosh, why my car looks like a dumpster.”

Peter Parker was running on the parking lot by the second he received the message that Tony Stark was waiting for him, which wasn’t making any sense to him. Why would Tony Stark be there instead of Happy? He knew that the man was a very busy person and waiting on a high school parking lot was not something he would have on his list. Maybe there’s a mission?

It wasn’t that hard to spot Tony’s car especially when Tony Stark was sitting on the hood of his car, especially if there’s a crowd of students that gathered around to ogle him, in which Tony seemed not to mind, with his sunglass on and looked perfectly at ease.

Peter Parker walked up to Tony shyly especially with the attention that the students giving him as he approached Tony.

“M-mr. S-stark.” Peter called as he reached him.

Tony turned his head to him and lowered his sunglass. “Oh, you’re Peter Parker.”

“Y-yeah, I don’t understand? Why are you here? Where’s Happy?” Then Peter whispered as he leaned closer to Tony. “I-is there a mission?”

“I am offended that you’re still looking for Happy, am I not enough? Do you miss Happy?”

“I-it’s not like that. . . “

“Get in the car. I’m on the breaking point of being ogled by acne prone, high-caffeinated minions.” Tony walked towards the driver side as Peter immediately opened the car door on the passenger’s side.

“What’s happening? Are we on a mission?” Peter asked when he was seated.

Tony sighed on the steering wheel as he faced Peter. “Kid, stop looking for missions, just be grateful that we’re on world peace-sort of. There’s no mission. And stop being so jittery, I’m not bringing you to a court martial.” With that Tony manoeuvred his car out of the parking lot and out of the school.

“Then where are we going?” Peter asked.

“I am going to make up for you because I was absent yesterday. Sorry about that.” Tony said, his eyes on the road. He could feel Peter’s eyes on him.

“Y-you don’t have to do that, I understand that you were a busy person.”

“But I will still do it. Before that, let’s buy some donuts. I’m hungry.”

“It looked like you’ve already eaten.” Peter glanced at the paper bag with a hotdog sandwich label on it at his foot.

“That was three hours ago and I’m hungry again. What flavour do you like? Honey-glazed?”

“Yeah!” Peter’s eyes lighted up. “That’s my favourite!”

“Honey-glazed donuts coming up.”

Peter Parker was hanging on the ceiling upside down with his webbing holding him off over the table, while Tony Stark was sitting at the table checking Peter’s working in progress robot. They were back in the lab on Avenger’s Facility.

“Mr. Stark, can I ask you a question?” Peter reached up for another donut on the box resting on the table.

“What?”

“I’ve been here a lot of times, but I haven’t seen any or some of the Avengers other than you, where are they? I know, some of them are war criminals now but still. . .”

Tony paused momentarily on attaching another wire to a socket then he continued on his work “Vision is on the mission –oh, that rhymes. He’ll be back soon. Rhodey was still in D.C doing some physical therapy and getting harangued by a certain secretary of state.”

Peter nodded silently.

“Now, it’s my turn to ask a question.” Tony said putting down his screw driver and facing Peter who was still hanging upside down from the ceiling.

“Yes, Mr. Stark?”

“How can you eat hanging upside down? Isn’t the food going back to your throat?”

Peter laughed. He flipped in and landed on the ground and ate the last bite of his donut. “No. I guess, one of my mad skills.” He air quoted the word mad skills.

“Now, stop showing off and come here, look were you went wrong on the circuitry. . .” Tony said, in which Peter eagerly obliged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. I forgot to tell you that the chapters were all unbeta-ed so forgive me for all the typos and grammatical errors. 
> 
> 2\. I know that probably the 1932 Flathead roadster didnt survive from the IM3 and as said from the tag, it was altered, besides, i love that car and the scene where tony was sitting there on IM2 so yeah, i decided to include it.
> 
> 3\. I'll try to update regularly since i still have another unfinished story here, but i had to write this! hahaha. Thanks for reading Kudos and comments everyone!


	5. Chapter 5

“What do you want me to do about the news and articles circulating around about your mini visit at Midtown School of Science and Technology?” Pepper asked on the other line as Tony held his phone against his ear and as he walked through the hallway of Avengers Facility.

“Are there any potential news taverns or publishing pubs and ogres we have to sue for Libel?”

“So far, the news hadn’t escalated out of control yet,” Pepper answered. “For now, there would be no harm on Peter’s interest and existence.”

“For now.” Tony echoed.

“You know people are going to start to wonder and make rumors and accusations when they start seeing you often hanging around with that kid.” Pepper said.

Tony paused. “Keep them all at bay and I swear if I saw someone or anyone making a fuss out of it, they’re gonna have to say goodbye to their jobs.”

“Tony, I know you care for Peter and we all are but-”

“Honey, if I have to, I will do it and you know it.”

“All right.” Pepper sighed. “I’ll do whatever I can so they’ll stay behind the line and uh, help them not to lose their job, I guess.”

“Uh-huh, your downright compassion beguiled me and you’re the best.”

“That’s why you’re marrying me. ”

“I know. Bye.”

Pepper hung up

Tony Stark approached the theatre room where Peter was currently in. The door automatically opened when he stopped in front of it. He stepped in and saw Peter was watching a movie. Peter was sprawled to the seat in his spiderman suit without the mask on. Tony paused.

“Hi! Mr. Stark.” Peter sat up.

“Let me guess . . .” Tony said narrowing his eyes and pointing at Peter. “You don’t have any underclothes again. Or is there going to be an impending attack in this room that I am not aware of?”

Peter laughed lightly. “I came from patrol and went here after. And I accidentally discovered this room when I was about to go to the lab. And wow! Look how big the screen is, just like in the actual theatre-!”

“-Yeah, that’s why this room’s called the theatre room, awesome isn’t it?” Tony said

 “-There were just a lot of cool movies stored in here including The Empire Strikes Back!” Peter continued cheerfully “I just got hooked on it and forgot to change –wait, hang on. Crap, where’s my backpack? I just put it here somewhere. . .” Peter stood up looking for his backpack. Tony stared at him.

“Oh, saw it.” Peter raised his hand towards the seat far ahead where his backpack was lying. He webbed the backpack to him. “Got it.” He opened his backpack and pulled out his clothes and started to change on the spot.

Tony didn’t move from his own spot, scratching his moustache “Go on, take your time, we want you comfy here. . .”

“Where’s my other sock?” Peter said out loud rummaging inside his backpack “Oh here ya go. . .” He also pulled out a plastic bag from it. “I have snacks here too, gummy bears.” He put the said snack on the seat. Then he pulled out next the shoes out of his bag and shoving his suit in it.

“I feel like there’s an entire storage closet in there,” Tony gestured to bag. “And I can put Mark 47 in there without compressing it . . .”

After a moment, Peter sat on back on his seat all dressed up in normal clothes. Peter let out a breath. He put down his backpack at the foot of his seat.

“You done, kid? No more rituals you’ve got to do?” Tony asked approaching Peter.

“Yeah, I’m good.” Peter breathed out again.

“So, you’re watching. . . An empire revenging to his enemies?” Tony sat next to Peter.

Peter laughed. “Yeah, you could say that.”

“Your favourite movie?” Tony looked at Peter.

“Yeah, it’s actually part of a movie series. Then there’s the new instalment on it and it was cool. . . “Peter started to talk about it. Tony leaned back on his seat, relaxing; he smiled back and started to watch the movie.

“Gummy bears, Mr. Stark,” Peter offered the opened pack to his mentor.

“Yay. The fun always starts with the beloved squishy and chewy grizzlies.” Tony fished out some gummy bears and started eating.

Seconds later, Tony realized that the movie’s setting was in a freaking space, as in outside of Earth, and there’s a lot of spaceship and ugly looking aliens which highly reminded him of the alien invasion in New York and the wormhole and the chitauri’s, and which he was avoiding thinking because of his issues on it. Tony has been getting help from a professional in controlling his own fears and anxiety. He’d like to believe that he already made some progress out of it. Sometimes, he won over it but there were times that he did not. He was starting to get uncomfortable. He loosened even more the already loose necktie around his neck.

Peter was oblivious to Tony’s discomfort as he continued to give side comments and some overview about the story which again wasn’t helping Tony’s case. Tony looked at Peter, who looked so cheerful and at ease. And then, the thought that this boy sitting beside him was his own son gave him a sense of tenderness and tranquility, a feeling that covered him like a blanket. It calmed him bit by bit as he was able to relax once again on his own seat. For all the people who gave him pain, Tony was glad that Peter belonged to a few handful people who can give him a rare pleasant feeling, a feeling that sometimes he forgot what feels like. He was glad that Peter was his son.

“It’s actually ending though but the biggest plot twist is coming up. . .” Peter added excitedly.

After a moment, Tony looked at Peter. “So you’re telling me the biggest plot twist here is that, Black Cape Terrorist here is the father of the space warrior man –who was the protagonist, who’s preparing basically himself his whole life to fight Black Cape Terrorist, and he just discovered that Black Cape Terrorist was his father all along?” Peter told him the plot of the story while they were watching so Tony, thanks to his genius mind, were able to understand the whole story though he just watched it half way through the end.

Peter nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, basically Darth Vader was Luke Skywalker’s father. I felt like my whole world tilted upside down when it revealed to me. Like what?!”

Tony drummed his fingers on the arm rest of the seat he was sitting. Oh why he’s feeling some sort of déjà vu on this scene? Then before they knew it, the credits were rolling.

“Hey, kid.” Tony leaned his elbows on the arm rest as his body angled away facing Peter.

“Yes, Mr. Stark?” Peter looked at him.

“What if, you know for the sake of argument, something similar to Luke Skywalker happened to you, what would you do?” Tony said conversationally, his tone was light.

Peter frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You know, uh, let’s say that your father who was already dead wasn’t really your father but there’s someone else who’s your real father and very much alive -?”

“-And a space terrorist?” Peter added questioningly.

“Not necessarily a space terrorist, maybe he can be a part time hero too,” Tony answered and added mentally. _And who’s donning a gold titanium alloy for a suit. . ._

“So what you mean was, let’s say, my dad Richard wasn’t really my dad but there’s someone else. . ?”

“Uh-huh. . .”

“So basically, I’ve been lied to.”

Tony winced mentally. “Yeah, sort of like that.”

Peter was silent for a moment that Tony thought, he won’t answer anymore. But Peter let out a deep breath and spoke. “Well, that’s hard. . .”

“Yeah, no kidding. . .”

“And probably, I’m going to get hurt by it, because why they didn’t tell me about it. . .”

“Exactly.”

“Like my whole life has been a lie and I wasn’t the person  I thought I was. . .”

“Uh-huh. . .”

“Probably, I would be frustrated about it too. . .”

Tony hummed.

“But maybe. . .”

 Tony perked up.

“I would be also glad about it because I would have another dad, who’s very much alive.” Peter looked down playing with his fingers. “I guess, it would be awesome to have a dad, a dad whom you could give a Father’s day card on Father’s day, whom you could bring to school when there’s a PTA meeting or just any school program that requires a dad. A dad who will teach you how to drive, shave and knot a necktie properly and someone whom you could talk about guy stuff without feeling that much awkward. Yeah that’s probably cool.”

 _Oh screw it._ Tony started. “Peter, you know, I have something to-”

“-But it’s all theoretical right? Fictional.” Peter looked up at Tony.

“Huh?”

“I mean we’re talking about something hypothetical, not real. . .” Peter said. “Because as much as it would be cool to have another dad, I don’t think I am ready for something like that. It’s Richard Parker whom I’ve known to be my dad my whole life and I’ve grown up thinking that he’s the best dad I’ve ever had, and it’s not something you can replace with nor changed. Then there’s, I don’t know, someone who’s going to come and take that role. Like why now of all time? Why did he show up only this time? Where was he when I needed a dad? Did he know all along and just sort of abandon me and just shows up in his convenient time?  With balancing my life as a Spiderman and a high school student, it’s already tough and to add another thing that I would probably think about, it’s probably too much.”

Silence.

Tony exhaled. “Right. Of course, it’s going to be really tough on you when you suddenly learned something like that... .”

“But why did you ask, Mr. Stark?”

“Nothing. I told you for, uh, like I said for the sake of argument, just curious on what's your thought on it."

Peter nodded. “Mr. Stark, can we go to the lab now? I’ve suddenly got an inspiration for my robot after seeing the Empire Strikes Back.”

“Yeah, sure, make a dash for it. I’ll follow you in a bit.”

Peter nodded enthusiastically and bounced out the room. When he left, Tony sagged in his seat. Give him machines and he’ll built or fix it in no time but giving him a son, it felt like he was back to primary school.

The same night, after Peter left, as usual, Tony was left in the lab tinkering. Because that’s what he ever did when he didn’t know what else to do with the rest of the unending list he’s thinking about.

“Dum-E the mess is here, what are you sweeping off there?” Tony pointed at the robot

“Boss, Incoming call from May Parker.” Friday notified him.

“Answer.” Tony said.

“Hello, Tony?” May asked, she seemed out of breath.

Instantly, Tony knew something was wrong. May rarely called him on his first name, unless it was something really serious.

“What happened? What’s wrong?” Tony asked. He rolled his chair towards his desk.

“Remember the DNA Test result you gave me when you came here the last time?” May asked.

“Yeah.” Tony paused.

“Peter saw it.”

Tony almost fell on his seat. He muttered closing his eyes briefly. “Wow. That came out of nowhere. . .”

“I mean,” May continued. “I was in the kitchen and I didn’t see him coming, maybe he came in through the window again. Then he saw me looking at it, maybe because of his heightened senses, he immediately saw his name and your name on it. I ended up telling him the truth.”

“Where is he?” Tony asked.

“He went out. That’s why I called you, after I told him he just went away and I’m worried.”

“Friday, track him down” Tony said. Then spoke to May. “Don’t worry, May. I’m going to find him. I always do.”

“I’m sorry, I know you’re the one who was supposed to tell him-”

“It’s fine. You actually did me a bit of a favour there. It’s just that everything’s happening too fast when I haven’t yet prepared a dad’s manual that I am surely going to read this time. God.”

“Tony. . .”

“No, May. It’s really fine. I always figure things out. I’ll talk to him.”

“Okay, just give me a message when you found him.”

“Yep.”

May hung up.

“Boss, location detected.” Friday answered.

“Now, where is he?”

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah. i am blown away from the responses i'm getting from all of you guys! Thank you so much! I'm glad that you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. (especially Tony) So heres an update, sort of Christmas present to everyone lol. Btw, advance Merry Christmas to all, hope you have a good time!
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbeta-ed chapter.

Peter Parker had his suspicions that he was not a Parker’s son because he was not completely an idiot.

After his parent’s death and as he started growing up, he started to notice these small differences, some of the physical traits he never got with his parents, like his eyes that was brown contrast to the emerald eyes that his late parents possessed. Even now in high school, Flash said the same thing when he brought a picture of his parents on a class presentation. He even mocked Peter that he was probably adopted. Peter ignored it as usual.

The thing was, for a long time, Peter was meaning to ask his aunt about it, just to confirm his suspicions because maybe his aunt knows something about it. He just didn’t know how to phrase it or how to ask it. And the guts, he was saving a lot of courage and nerve to ask because there was a part of him that’s afraid of what he might found out. And then, before he could ask anything, a lot of things had happened. He got bitten by a radioactive spider, his uncle bed died that took a toll on them, then Tony Stark appeared in his life.

So it didn’t came as a shock really when the truth that he wasn’t a Parker was revealed to him _but_ the fact that it was Anthony Edward Stark or Tony freaking Stark was his father was entirely different matter.

He should have piece it together when Tony started asking question about Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker father and son related question. He should have piece it together when Peter learned that his mother Mary and Tony were both at the same science conference that coincidentally was after nine months he was born. He should have piece it together when he looked at Tony and saw the dark brown eyes that mirrored his own eyes. A trait that Peter had been wondering where on earth he inherited from.

But no, he was so consumed by his fanboy-ing with his idol and hero Tony Stark to notice at all. Now, the truth coming out felt like a huge impact that knocked the breath out of him.

For the love of everything, why his mother had to bury that truth with her in the grave? He looked over a millions of times on the remaining belongings of his parents that were left to him, but he never found anything that would point out to Tony Stark being his father. Why his mother had kept silent about it? Peter spent his whole life toughing himself up against the sadness, jealousy and the nostalgia of seeing his friends or classmates that had a parent with them. And now he had found out that his real father was just there all this time, and whom he always sees on tv and could be just miles away. How screwed up was that? His mom could have save him all the trouble _if_ she just bothered to tell him.

And to add to the list of screwed up things, how long did Tony Stark know about it? Wait, was that why he got recruited to the world of superheroes? Is that his way of being close to his own son? And if he knew for a long time, why did he show up just now? Because he didn’t want a responsibility before and now he’s up for it? Maybe that’s the reason why Tony Stark had been more prominent in his life for the last month?

There were just too many whys and what if’s that his brain was having a hard time processing them. So he ran away, because his mind didn’t know how else to deal with it. Everything was just too much. He needed some air to breathe.

But of course, his request hadn’t been granted when he saw far away from a rooftop he was sitting a while back, a huge fire engulfing a high rise apartment building.

“Don’t worry, I got you. What’s your name?” Spiderman said conversationally as he carried a seven year old girl who was also crying and carrying a rabbit stuff toy.

“Lexi.” The girl sniffed as he grabbed a cloth and wet it on a sink he passed by on his way out of the room. He covered the nose of the girl with the wet cloth. So far according to his spidey drone circulating around that she’s the last one to evacuate from the scene.

“That’s a beautiful name, I’m Spiderman, nice to meet you.” Peter said

“Uh, Karen? Which way?” Peter looked left and right, they just reached the hallway. They were surrounded by rolling of flames. The heat was intensifying by the minute and the smoke was getting thicker that Peter was starting to have hard time seeing his surroundings. The girl was letting out a string of coughs despite the cloth that was protecting her from an instant suffocation. For whatever in Peter’s suit, he was being protected by that said suffocation.

“On your left, Peter.” Karen answered. “There’s a stairwell that leads to the rooftop that hasn’t been blocked by the fire yet. You are on 48th floor and three more stairs towards the rooftop.”

And Peter ran towards the direction his AI pointed out.

_Yes, Peter. Tony Stark was your real father._

Peter tripped that he almost lost the hold with the girl. The girl yelped in surprised. Peter cursed mentally that his aunt wouldn’t be proud if she heard him said that out loud. He adjusted his hold to the girl and continued running. Thankfully the girl had stopped crying when she started to marvel instead that Spiderman was saving her.

“Sorry.” Peter mumbled and added mentally. _Family_   _problems later, save the kid first._

“Watch out for falling debris,” Karen warned him.

Peter was about to answer when a loose thin steel frame from the ceiling swung his way. He had only seconds to spare to use his body as a shield to protect the girl he’s carrying from it. It smacked him in the face that made him staggered back a bit.

“Ow!” He felt like his brain got shook literally from the impact. “Yeah, that’s a falling debris, right there.” Peter steadied himself and resumed his way.

“Mild contusion detected.” Karen said.

“Yeah, need an ice pack later, Karen.” Peter started to climb the stairs.

“Who’s Karen?” Lexi coughed as she removed the cloth covering her nose.

“A friend and cover your nose, Lexi. You don’t want to inhale smoke. That’s bad!”

“Is that your imaginary friend? Charley always says that I was just talking to an imaginary friend and Bobby is not real.” Lexi said.

“Who’s Charley?” Peter asked and counted mentally, one more set of stairs.

“A boy from school. He’s kinda mean actually.” Lexi answered.

Peter reached the top and rounded the corner. So far the fire hadn’t reach that part yet, but smokes were seeping through the corners. He saw the door far ahead and made a run for it.Then the door blasted from its hinges when Peter used his strength to push it. It was lock so he had to use other method to open it. There were helicopters hovering above, Peter waved at them getting their attention. Peter set down the girl to the ground. A rescuer was making his way down secured by a harness from one of the helicopters.

“Listen,” Peter knelt down in front of the girl. “Charley doesn’t have special and gifted eyes. That’s why he would never be able to see Bobby like you do. Don’t listen to him.”

Lexi nodded enthusiastically and hugged Peter. “Thank you, Spiderman!”

Soon, Peter was standing at the low-level cemented barrier at the edge of the building and waving his hand to the retreating helicopter where Lexi was riding. Then, the helicopter was just a spot in the horizon.

_Yes, Peter. Tony Stark was your real father._

And Peter made a mistake on stepping on an empty space and now he was free-falling from the rooftop.

“Parachute uninstalled.” Karen said.

Peter was about to use his web when he realized that he ran out of web fluid on his cartridge on both webshooters. He must have used them up when saving the civilians back in the building.

_Yes, Peter. Tony Stark was your real father._

He tried to change the cartridge, it must be an easy task but he was fumbling for it, his hands were shaking that making it difficult to do so.

“Falling on 590 feet.” Karen said

“Stop telling me.” Peter muttered, the new cartridge fell from his hand.

_Yes, Peter. Tony Stark was your real father._

_Mom, why did you have to keep silent about it? Did you hate Mr. Stark? Wait, is it dad now?_

And all these consuming thoughts rendered Peter paralyzed. Peter stared at the sky.

“Peter!”

Seconds before Peter hit the cemented ground, a familiar clad of metal with the glowing chest and eyes, swooped in and caught Peter. Iron Man spiralled out back to the sky.

“Goddamn it, Peter! Are you on a suicide mission?” Tony Stark yelled. The glowing eyes on his face plate stared down at Peter. Iron Man was holding Peter on his sides just below his arm pit.

Peter gasped, like he was brought back to the surface of reality. They cut across the darkened sky as they made their way back to the Avengers Facility.

“Here, put it in on your cheek,” Pepper said. She wore a maroon t-shirt and frayed denim shorts. Her usual heels were replaced by flip flops. She gave the ice pack to Peter who was sitting at the edge of on one of the beds in the medical bay of the Avengers Facility. His legs dangled off the bed. Peter mumbled a thanks. He was back on regular clothes that came from the set of extra clothes from his quarters in the facility. He put the ice pack on his bruise courtesy of the steel frame that fell on him. He winced at the cold contact of ice.

“Thankfully, the bruising wasn’t that bad.” Pepper said.

Tony on the other hand was watching Peter silently as he stood from a good distance at the foot of the bed.

“Why your parachute’s not installed?” Tony asked.

“I forgot.” Peter mumbled, unable to look at him. He continued to pat his cheek with an ice pack.

Tony closed his eyes briefly. “Of all the things that you could conveniently forget,” He exhaled and looked back at Peter “You were one second away from breaking your neck back there. What happened? You were conscious the whole time you were free falling, why weren’t you doing anything?”

“I got distracted okay?” Peter said in outburst that stunned the latter two. He faced Tony as the ice pack he was holding fell on his lap. “By the fact that my real father was standing four feet away from me.”

A deafening silence fell upon them.

“Pepper, can you leave us alone?” Tony said after a moment, his eyes not leaving Peter.

Pepper, on the other hand, was reluctant to leave the two as she looked back and forth between Tony and Peter who were staring back at each other. But then she relented when this time was crucial for the both of them. She spoke. “I’ll just be at lounge area.” Then she left.

“Before you start throwing rocks on me,” Tony started.“I didn’t know anything either, until I saw the picture of your mother in the lab. After that, I started to have my suspicions. So I did the research, I did the math. Heck, for a good measure, I swabbed up your saliva from a glass. Remember the time I cancelled on you? That’s the time, I had the result of a freaking DNA Test telling me,” Tony paused. “That I have a son and that’s you.”

“Why your mother never bothered to tell us? I don’t know and it’s not like we can still have answers for it.” Tony threw his hands in the air.

Silence.

Peter could feel it, the truth so tangible he could feel it on his skin, in his bones, clinging unto him, creating a new set of skin and branding him a new identity. It’s also the same truth that’s weighing him down because he didn’t know how to carry it yet. Peter looked down at the white sheet of the bed.

Tony exhaled once more. “I don’t want to replace your dad, Richard on the best dad category. Because it’s not like that I’m going to win that award-” Peter looked up at Tony with wide eyes. “-And I’m not competing him either on being a dad to you.”

Tony continued. “Still, I want to take the shot. I want to try and be part of your life, at the same time, I don’t want to spring everything on you all at once and be like a tyrant enforcing this whole dad thing to you. I know, you’re confused, hurt overwhelmed. It’s natural. If you’re angry, cool. People get angry all the time. It’s nothing new.” Then Tony sighed, trying to get the words out of his mouth that seemed tangled out. “What I am trying to say is, I am not rushing you to accept all of these, because as you said before you’re not ready for something like this. I respect that part. If you need space to digest this whole thing, I’d give it to you. Take as much time as you need.”

“Did you?” Peter tried to say.

“What?”

“Digest this whole thing already?” Peter air-quoted the word digest.

“The fact that I have a son?” Tony said. “Honest answer, still in process but I know it won’t be that hard especially when it’s you. You’ve grown up well and it’s something I wish I could take credit for.” He looked away.

Peter frowned, a thought forming in his head.

“Boss.” Her voice echoed in the room.

“Not now, Friday.” Tony said.

“But you’ve got a ping from your priority alert list. Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross was in Florida-”

“Oh, is he going to go skinny dipping in Miami Beach now?” Tony said.

“No boss, he’s currently on chase with Steve Rogers’ group. Secretary Ross must have located their secret location.”

“I’ve gotta give him credit for finding them first.” Tony said. “How did this happen?”

“There had been a spotted footage of Sam Wilson and Wanda Maximoff at a public market in Florida three days ago.”

Tony exhaled. “Come on, you are not supposed to be in public when you are branded as a war criminal, that’s basic.”

Peter suddenly felt awkward when he felt like he was hearing something private and shouldn’t have. He started to pat the ice pack on his bruise cheek again, the ice had mostly melted, so it was more of water inside the pack.

“You know what, I don’t care. Let Ross catch them and put them back in, oh I don’t know maybe a submarine prison this time. I have something more important to deal with than saving their asses.” Tony glanced at Peter.

“It’s all right, Mr Stark-” Peter started to mumble.

“No, it’s not.”

“But you still care about them even after everything.” Peter said.

“No, I don’t and to show that, I’m just gonna sit here and watch them being dragged again or maybe get killed because of their lack of discreetness.”

“But you won’t-”

“Kid, if there’s one thing you need to know about this, I can’t get involve, if I get involve, Ross is also going to go after my head. And my head is too precious to be on his filthy hand.”

“He doesn’t necessary have to know that you’re involve, maybe an indirect diversion will give Captain Rogers’ group a time to, you know, flee.” Peter said. “Or maybe if you really can’t I can-”

“Oh no, that’s not an option either, you’re not stepping out or webbing out of the boundaries of New York. And stop giving me ideas!”

Peter mumbled, looking down. “Maybe, I could use this time to, uh, start digesting things and stuff.”

A beat of silence.

“All right. You got it. I’ll leave, if that’s what you want.” Tony started to back away from the room.”The important thing is, the cat is out the bag and let the cat wander around.”

After a short while, Peter stood up from the bed and pushed aside the curtain that covered the window. It was just in time to see a glimmer of light sailing upward to the sky.

After receiving a notice from Tony, Pepper Potts walked back immediately to the med bay. She saw Peter standing by the window and looking up at the sky.

“Peter?” Pepper called as he slowed her walk towards him.

Peter didn’t budge.

“Peter, are you okay?” Pepper reached Peter. She sighed. “What am I saying? Of course, you’re not okay. Come here.” She pulled Peter gently into a hug. “You know, I’m mad at Tony for leaving you here like this and suddenly. . .”

Peter pulled out away as he looked up at Pepper. “I feel bad, Miss Potts. The worst thing is, I don’t know which thing made me feel bad anymore, is it the fact that I’m still confused and overwhelmed and I don’t know what I should do. Or is it because I just made Mr. Stark to leave like that when there are things that I wanted to say and should have said but I didn’t because there just so many things running around inside my head, and I couldn’t form a coherent thought and I’m afraid that I would say the wrong thing-”

“Peter,” Pepper bent forward slightly to look at Peter’s eyes. “You don’t have to feel bad for yourself for thinking something like that, we understand, especially Tony if you wanted a time for yourself to think, because this is something that wouldn’t sink on you immediately. And when you are ready, Tony’s always here to listen to everything you have to say. And I am always here to help you. Okay?”

Peter nodded mutely.

“Do you want ice cream?” Pepper asked smiling.

“I-is there?”

Pepper laughed softly. “Of course there is, you might be surprise what this compound can offer. Come on.”

With that, they walked towards the dining hall as Pepper put her arm around Peter’s shoulder.

  
Secretary Thaddeus Ross was in a car. There were cars on his rear carrying armed guards, a dozen of cars making their way on the deserted road going to Miami.

“What’s the status, Lieutenant?” Ross said on his earpiece.

“Targets still on sight. Not moving.” The Lieutenant answered on the line.

“Good and make sure they wouldn’t get away.” Ross said.

“Yes sir.” Lieutenant answered.

Ross was about to speak again, when the driver suddenly cursed out loud. Then Ross just found himself holding for his dear life as the car his riding in skidded and swerved on the road. It hit a nearby tree stopping it from its continuous zigzagging on the highway. Groggy when he hit his head on the car window, Ross looked outside. He probably should be thankful that he hit a tree out of the road because he managed to avoid all the cars in that road that were in total chaos, some were on fire and the guards were scrambling out of it, some were just on smoke and some managed to collide with the other cars.

“WHAT HAPPENED?” Ross shouted.

“The tires had been hit.” The driver yelled. “There were tons of push pins on the road and it’s too late when I noticed them.”

Ross also cursed out loud. “Who in bloody hell would put push pins on the road!”

“We couldn’t afford to lose time!” Ross barked again. “Rogers might get away.”

“We’re calling for backups!” The other man said sitting on the front passenger seat and started to talk on his earpiece. “We’re hit, request for back up immediately. Do you copy?”

“Negative, we’ve been hit too. We acquired some major damages but no casualties. It would take at least an hour to get there.”

 

Tony Stark in his iron man suit was sitting on the top of a billboard with his helmet off. From a distance, he saw the mayhem of Ross’ cars on the road.

“Man, I’m never going to underestimate the power of push pins.” Tony muttered, thanks to the thrift store he accidentally saw while flying on a low altitude that he came up with a plan of stopping Ross, without a direct involvement according to Peter. Besides, he didn’t want to create lethal damage.

  
And if there’s one thing for sure, Ross was going to be pissed off as hell. Probably might be the best time to see the on-hold blinking lights on the telephone again.

“Hey, genius, care to join me down here?”

Tony looked down at the source of the voice. His helmet was instantly in place, eyes glowing brighter in the dark. Because the place was dim, he couldn’t make out exactly who was standing at the steel footing of the billboard.

“Who’s that, fri?”

“Night vision activated.” Friday said. “Facial scan complete. It was Natasha Romanoff.”

“Oh great.” Tony muttered and rolled his eyes. Then he spoke in a louder voice. “How about no?”

“Oh come on, don’t be such a killjoy, don’t worry. I’m alone.”

“I don’t care if you brought a battalion.”

“I owe you, you saved us back there!”

Tony sighed. Then he flew down towards Natasha. He landed in front of her.

“So you’re imitating goldilocks now.” Tony said noticing the blond hair of Natasha. “Is that part of your cover or something?” He didn’t bother disengaging the helmet.

Natasha smiled and shrugged. “Yeah, helps me with the cover. . .”

“Look, I’m gonna give you a minute to say whatever you want to say. I’m on a tight schedule.”

But Natasha continued to smile. “But I’m touched that you managed to fit us in your schedule, we all appreciate it.”

“That’s all? Okay, bye-”

“Thank you” The ex-agent said earnestly. “Thanks for your love letter telling us that Ross was unto us and what you did here. You saved us, despite the hard times. . .”

“Funny isn’t it?”

Natasha just sighed. “Cap wanted to say hi and also wanted to say thank you.”

“Yeah, tell him, he can bury his thank you and hi in his ass.”

“All right. Message gonna be delivered. Anything else?”

“Probably choose a better location for hiding and not in a crowded area? You’re not exactly blending in because Ross was meters away on your tails earlier. I wanted to weep when I saw that you rented an apartment in a busy street.”

Natasha shrugged. “Yeah, we’ve been pretty surrounded but they managed.”

“Good for you. All right, the bell’s ringing, times up. Bon voyage.”

Tony flew out before Natasha could say anything. He was already airborne when Friday notified him.

“Incoming call, Miss Pepper Potts.” Friday said.

Tony answered. “Yes, honey. I’m on my way.”

“I’m gonna drive Peter home. Happy’s probably asleep now.”

“It’s pretty late, can’t he stay on the quarters?”

“He wanted to go back on his aunt.”

Tony released a breath. “I felt like I screwed up, did I?”

There’s a pause. “You’re both new at this, don’t be hard on yourself. I was eavesdropping on your conversation earlier. So far, I think you nailed all the points you should say. Besides, we should start buying parenting books.”

“All right. Keep that on the list. Be careful on your way.” Tony said.

“Okay. There’s a left over grilled cheese and ice cream. Just help yourself when you got here. Bye.” Pepper said.

May Parker was surprised to see that Miss Pepper Potts was with Peter when the door of their apartment opened. She was concerned at the bruised that form on Peter’s face, but the more important thing was she was relieved to see his nephew in one piece.

“I just dropped him off,” Pepper said politely then she looked at Peter. “Take care, Peter.”

“Thank you, Pepper.” Peter mumbled.

When Pepper left the apartment, May just hugged Peter wordlessly. Peter’s eyes started to well up.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okkkayyyyyyyyyyyyy. This was hella long, just to make up for not updating soon. I got sick and I couldn't update even if i want to. 
> 
> So, I've thought a lot of ways on how to end this chapter. I could have end it right there after Peter and Tony talked but there are things I wanted to cover in this story. 1. Pepper Potts being the supportive step mom and the interaction between Peter and Pepper in that relationship, and the progress on it. 2. Tony still freaking (lowkey) care about the rogue avengers despite everything, because he was just a cinnamon roll. So this was an explanation for you folks raising an eyebrow why there's suddenly something about Cap's team being thrown in the story when it should be about Peter and Tony's paternal relationship. Besides, I put Avengers as part of the fandom in this story and post-ca:cw as a tag so this was bound to come out. But, I'm not going to delve deeper about the avengers more than this. Also, I'm telling you in advance that there would be no Cap appearance here and the accords being resolved. I just gave the accords brief appearances because post ca:cw tag and just to narrate that Tony was still doing something about it. Simply, this is going to focus on Peter and Tony father-son dynamics and how they're gonna deal with this. And maybe bits of Pepperony here and there.
> 
> Also, idk to what extent of damages that loads of push pins can do to car tires but for the sake of the story let it be. lol.
> 
> Alright, i'm done spouting stuff. Oh, Happy New Year everyone!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unbeta-ed Chapter.

Peter was glad that at least, Mr. Stark brought all the parental issues on Friday, because if it happened on weekdays and on school night, he would have probably missed the class next day. He still felt pretty awful, he felt like he caught a cold. He tossed on his bed and turned on his side as he put his folded arm under his head.

He was aware that it was already morning, but he felt like not getting up yet even though it’s already late. He didn’t get much of a sleep either when his mind was fully occupied with, Tony Stark being his real dad. It was pretty mind blowing to be honest. How would you deal with something about Tony Stark being your father? How would you deal with all the things that came with the last name Stark? Will his name going to be change now? And then another thought crossed Peter’s mind. He bolted on his bed and out of his room.

“Aunt May!” He called as he reached the living room.

“Hey, Peter what’s wrong?” There came an immediate worried reply of his aunt who was wearing an apron and emerging from the kitchen holding a spatula.

“I just thought of something,” Peter answered in a same degree of worry. “Am I going to live with Mr. Stark now? How about you? Am I going to leave you here? What’s going to happen now?”

They didn’t much discuss last night all the circumstances or consequences that would follow now that Peter was a Stark. Aunt May just finally showed him the copy of DNA Test Result and discussed small matters. Peter was so tired that night and fell asleep fast, so the discussions hadn’t reached that far yet.

“Oh, Peter,” Aunt May strode across; dropping her spatula on the side table she passed by. She hugged Peter when she reached him. “Stop worrying about it. Tony already said that it’s all up to you whether where you want to stay. Or if you want, you can stay in his place half of the week and half in here.”

Peter groaned as he buried his face on the shoulder of his aunt. “Why does this feel so complicated? I thought that the most complicated thing I’ve ever experienced was being Spiderman, now I’d discovered that I am blood-related to the hero I’d admired all throughout my childhood.”

“Pete,” May’s voice was soft and comforting. “Stop stressing about it, okay? This is why Tony was giving you time, so you wouldn’t feel too pressured about it and wouldn’t feel so overwhelmed with all the change and transition.”

“Too late about that, I guess.” Peter mumbled inaudibly.

“What am I going to do about this, aunt May?” Peter said as he turned his face to the side and rested his cheek on May’s shoulder.

“That’s an easy question,” May said. “All you have to do is to answer this question I am about to ask you.”

Peter pulled away and looked at his aunt inquiringly.

“Do you want Tony to be your father, not just as a father figure now but the whole deal legit dad?”

Peter stared at his aunt.

The next day his bestfriend, Ned Leeds dropped by at Peter’s apartment. They have a scheduled Star Wars movie marathon that day. They were halfway through watching the Star Wars Force Awakens and the third Star Wars movie they had watched. Yet, Peter’s mind wasn’t entirely on it. Suddenly, everything turned quiet. He looked up to see that the movie was paused. He glanced to his side and saw Ned holding the remote.

“Okay, dude, fess up. What’s going on with you? Feels like Peter Parker was here but not really here.” Ned said putting down the remote on the center table.

Peter sighed, slouching at the couch. “Just thinking. . ”

“Thinking about MJ?”

“Dude! What the-!” Peter said flabbergasted and flustered. “How come MJ appeared in the equation?”

“The way you stare too much at her?” Ned leaned back on the couch, eating the left over popcorn.

Peter groaned. “Not cool.”

“Yeah, not cool. It’s getting creepy though sometimes. It’s a miracle MJ hadn’t thrown that thick book she always carried around at you.”

“I’m not staring too much at her and she’s not I’m thinking about. God, that sounds so weird.”

“Okay.”

Peter looked at Ned “Seriously, it’s not her.”

“Dude, I said okay, stop being so defensive.”

Peter groaned again. “I can’t believe this.”

“Then what are you thinking about?” Ned asked.

Peter turned on his seat and faced his bestfriend. He looked squarely at Ned. “Tony Stark is my dad.”

There’s a pause.

“Tony Stark is your dad.” Ned said slowly. “Of course, it’s natural that you’re gonna think that way because he’s your mentor and-”

“No Ned,” Peter cut him off. “Tony Stark is my dad, my real dad, as in the biological dad.”

Ned’s mouth hung open as he stared at Peter. He spoke slowly. “Tony Stark is your biological dad.”

“Yeah,”

“How?”

“Apparently, Richard Parker wasn’t my real dad but Tony Stark, though Mary was my biological mother.”

“That’s the most insane thing you’ve ever said to me rivaling the whole Spiderman thing.”

“I know.”

“OH MY GOD PETER ARE YOU REALLY SERIOUS ABOUT IT?!”

Monday came. After Peter’s class dismissal, he decided not to do patrol today because there’s something he needed to do first. Peter was going to the Upstate, to the Avengers Facility. When he reached the compound, he immediately went to Tony’s lab where he was sure his mentor was. Pepper had tipped him about it.

Peter was all mess and jumbled nerves when he reached the door of Tony’s lab. He immediately saw his mentor through the glass window. Tony’s was standing and his back was facing him. Instead of pristine coat and ties that Peter usually saw him wearing; Tony was just wearing black long sleeves and faded jeans. Peter took a deep breath and swipe the glass window. Small holographic screen appeared to the window next to the door. He tapped the code combination on it and the door opened. That’s when Peter realized that Tony was talking to someone through the earpiece he’s wearing.

“I clearly told you that I didn’t have anything to do on helping Captain Steve Rogers escaped. What else do you want to know? Why would I put ridiculous push pins on the freaking road? You do realize how insane that sounds, right?” Tony said as he started to pace not noticing Peter standing by the door.

Tony paused. His voice seemed tight. “Listen, here’s the thing, Secretary Ross, My suit is capable of deploying missiles and shoot from a long range. Now your logic don’t seem to add up, why would I spent some amount of time to accomplish something ridiculous as that, when I could just blast off your handmaidens within seconds by my missiles from a distance, if I don’t want to be found out. I could have sent drones for it. You know how much I hated paper works, the whole exhausting and unnecessary works.” Then suddenly Tony turned around. He froze when he saw Peter there.

“You know what,” Tony spoke again to his earpiece, recovering from his surprise seeing Peter. “Let’s talk again when you came with more reasonable things to argue about. Now, for the mean time why don’t you report to the UN first about the circumstances of Steve Roger’s group escape? You know, Steve Rogers found a new ally. Behold the almighty push pins!” Tony snorted a laugh. “God that sounds like something I would see as headlines on tabloids. Good luck on your tabloid headlines story.” Tony tapped his earpiece.

Tony stared at Peter.

“Um, hi. Mr. Stark.” Peter said, looking down at his foot.

“You came to work on your school project?” Tony said lightly. “And please don’t just stand there I feel like I have some contagious disease.”

Peter walked towards Tony as Tony sat on the high stool behind a table, where his work was laid.

“I actually came here to talk to you.” Peter said as he reached Tony.

Tony faced fully Peter. “About what?”

“Uh, dad subject.”

Tony paused and exhaled. “Well that was fast, I was betting at least a month before you talk to me about that. All right, let’s hear it.”

Peter tried to calm himself down. It felt like he was about to do some sort of class presentation in school. Tony was staring at him waiting. He started to speak before he can lose his nerve.

“First, I’m not mad at you and I’m sorry, for acting so indifferently to you-”

“No, it’s fine.” Tony said “I would have probably run away by the second I found out that I was related to a Stark.”

“You’re my hero and idol and yeah mentor.” Peter said.

Tony looked taken aback. “Okay not the kind of intro, I was expecting. . .”

 “That’s how I looked up to you my entire life, a high profile person. And because of that, I always thought that there were some sort of boundaries for me when it comes to interacting with you,” Peter continued. “That’s why it’s not easy to shift things from those boundaries to the whole real dad ordeal and get super close to you instantly. It’s crazy and it’s still felt so unreal when I think about it.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m giving you the space you need for it.”

“But,” Peter exhaled. _Here we go._ He thought. “It doesn’t mean you have to stay away from me while we’re in the process of grasping this change between us. I know I made you leave the last time, but it’s just me being shocked and the weekends made me think about it, it cleared my head a little bit and then the more I think about it, I’m afraid that maybe we’ll lose communication and you’ll go MIA on me-”

“Peter.” Tony held Peter’s shoulders. Peter tried to catch his breath.

“Yes, I meant to give you space but it doesn’t mean I’ll go MIA to you.” Tony smiled a little bit as he air-quoted the word MIA. “I’m always here, always one call away. What I mean is, I want you to act, to do thing voluntarily when it comes to us. I don’t want you to feel force or compelled to do things just because I’ve suddenly became branded as your dad. I want you to come to me in your own terms. You’ve known someone else as your dad your entire life and it’s not easy that someone will have that role again in your life. But yeah, I’m always here. Well, maybe except when I’m on international conferences, that can’t be helped. But I’m here and I’ll never go MIA on you, because the last time it happened, you picked up a fight with bird man and a plane crash landed because of the said fight.”

“Well, in my defence, he’s going to steal your-”

“And you did good, _son_. I’m proud of you because of that.”

Peter’s breath caught in his throat. He was having a hard time comprehending this feeling he’s having. Yet, If there's one thing he knew, he felt so elated, that it’s overwhelming, and not the kind of overwhelming sensation when he discovered that his real father was Tony, but the kind of feeling similar to euphoria.

Because here was Tony Stark, the same man who got angry and disappointed at him and whom he let down when he made a mistake on a ferry incident. And now, here he was telling him that he was proud of him. Peter wouldn’t admit this to anyone but he missed the feeling of a parent complementing his own child for something he accomplished by hard work. Peter remembered vaguely something about his old parents Mary and Richard complementing his art works when he was a child. Yet, this time, it was different. Because Peter was not a six year old doing art works anymore, he was now fifteen and he’s Spiderman who’s doing real life works that involved hard works and sacrifices, and they were even more worth it that he’s got someone, even more so a parent who appreciated him for it. And it was also something that he thought he would never experience again until now.

“I guess, I never properly gave you a full credit about that.” Tony smiled his lips quirking up. “But yeah, you did a good job on that.”

“Uh,” Peter swallowing bile of overflowing emotions. “Y-yeah, thank you, Mr. Stark.”

“Really, _Mr. Stark_?” Tony raised an eyebrow. “Come on, I think we already bypass all those formalities after all that happened between us.”

“Uh-” Peter gulped.

“Call me, Tony.” Tony said.

“Y-yes, okay. Tony.” Peter breathed.

Tony nodded satisfied. He twisted on his seat and started to face his work table.

“Y-you can also give yourself a credit.” Peter suddenly said.

Tony paused and looked at Peter confused. “About what?”

“You’re the one who told me to be a better person. You’re the one who’s mentoring me to be a better superhero. You made me a suit. You’re always there to save me when I’m in screwed up situations. Heck, you’re helping me with my school project. If you couldn’t give credit to yourself back then because you’re not exactly there when I was growing up, well you can do it now, because you’re here and helping me with whatever I need. And even though way back when we both didn’t know that we’re, uh, related, you’ve been there for me, Tony.” Peter looked down bashfully.

Tony stared at Peter. He spoke after a moment as he stood up. “Come here, son.”

Peter’s head whipped up. “What?”

“I said, come here.” Tony extended his arm to Peter.

Peter took a step towards Tony and Tony pulled him into a hug that surprised the hell out of Peter. And what surprised him even more was when Tony threw his head back and burst out into laughter.

“W-what’s so funny, Mr- I mean, Tony?” Peter’s cheek was pressed against Tony’s chest. Peter could feel Tony’s chest rumbling as he continued to laugh.

Tony pulled away when he started to sober up. He looked at Peter, his eyes shining. “Can I at least, give myself a 12% credit on it?”

Peter frowned. “What?”

Tony waved his hand, he continued to smile. “Nothing, just some old inside joke.”

Peter nodded slowly, still a little bit confused and spoke in the same slow manner. “Okay?”

“Man, I felt like I’ve never laugh so wholeheartedly in centuries, that felt good.” Tony ruffled Peter’s hair. “Now, do you want to continue doing your school project? Your deadline’s coming up. And I, at least have to be worthy of my 12% credit.”

“Why it’s only 12% credit?” Peter dropped his backpack on another table and started working on his robot.

“Oh, you’ll know it if you started learning about corporate business. Anyway, did you bring your suit?”

“Uh, no?”

“Bring it next time you come here. I’m gonna put a bell on it.”

“What bell? Like a literal bell? And what for?”

“A literal bell would be fun. But no, you’re in dire need of alarm system when you can just conveniently forget to install things on your suit, like for example the parachute. And if you’re still so stubborn like a brick on not putting it yourself, it’s gonna alert me of your stubbornness and I’m gonna haul you up myself from wherever you are -I don’t care if you’re in the middle of peeing,  just to make sure it’s installed.”

“Yikes.”

“Yeah, let’s start practicing being responsible here, it saves life actually.”

If there’s one thing that Tony knew, you’re learning something every day. Learning to call someone a son, who was basically a stranger kid to you yesterday and now he’s someone who’s going to be part of your life forever. Honestly, blood-related or not, Peter was still someone whom Tony will always welcome under his small circle of what he can truly call a family. He was still learning how to be a good father but despite all this transitions and changes in their lives, he was glad that they were back on some familiar routine.

Hours later, Happy Hogan, Pepper Potts and James Rhodes who was still in leg braces and limping, were walking on the hallway of Avengers Facility and towards Tony’s lab. When they reached the lab, they saw Tony and Peter were engaged in some sort of activity. They were both laughing as they stood side by side and throwing something very small and round on the two stands with small rings attached to it. The stands were placed on the other end, feet away from them. Dum-E and U were holding a bowl underneath the rings catching whatever that small thing they were throwing through the rings. All of them entered the lab.

“Whoa, look at that, mama bear, Rhodey bear and soon to be Mrs. Stark is here.” Tony threw that small thing again like stone towards the hoop. “Yeah, goal! Did you see that? Peter?” Then he ate some of that stone-like.

“What are you eating?” Pepper asked confusedly.

“Relax, Pep, it’s a candy.” Tony said. “It’s called Skittles, you want some? –Oh why goal again!” Tony looked at Peter. “You know what, this is downright cheating you have heightened senses.”

Peter only laughed.

“I don’t understand what’s going on here.” Happy said.

Tony looked at Hap. “Hap, we’re playing. It’s called shoot the skittles on the ring, like basketball but smaller.” Then he turned and pointed at the robot. “U! Can you hold the bowl properly? You’re not catching properly my candies!”

“Which is a lot of skittles.” Peter said.

“No, it’s the fact that you haven’t told us that you have a son and he’s standing next to you.” Happy intervened.

“About that,” Pepper chimed in. She wore now her usual professional attire. “I might have told them about it when I’m looking for parenting books.”

“Oh,” Tony paused. Then Tony put his arm around Peter’s shoulder as the two both faced the latter three. “Gentlemen, this is my son Peter, because of some twisted way of fate or whatever, we didn’t discover that we’re blood related until a week ago for me and uh, just last Friday for him.”

“Jesus, Tones.” Rhodes wiped his face with his hand. He was wearing same professional attire like Pepper. “I came here fully expecting that we’re going to talk about some business and not about you having a son that came out of nowhere and who’s Spider kid.”

“Spiderman.” Peter corrected and waved awkwardly to Rhodes. “Uhm, nice to finally meet you, Col. Rhodes.” He then looked up at Tony. “Tony, did you tell him that I’m Spiderman?”

Tony sighed and looked down at Peter. “Well, kid, I know it’s not my identity to reveal but uh, it has to for some important purpose. Besides, sometimes you just tell things to your best friend, you also tell things to your best friend right? You even gave him my number.”

Peter nodded. “Fair point.”

“I still can’t believe this.” Happy said. “I’ve been with the kid for months and suddenly. . .”

“Start believing on the impossible, my good ol’ friend.” Tony smirked at him.

After a while, Tony and Rhodes were the only one left in the lab. Rhodes was sitting on a stool while Tony was kneeling in front of him checking the leg brace. He was regarding Tony silently.

“Friday, could you give me a log on the brace and a manipulatable projection for my later analysis.” Tony said still looking at the brace.

“Scan complete.” Friday said. “The sensors were draining and the springs were starting to loosen up, boss.”

“Really?” Tony looked up at Rhodes. “Any discomfort so far?”

“None,” Rhodes said. He leaned forward. “So how are you taking this whole suddenly being a dad thing to that kid?”

Tony paused. He smiled up. “Everything was under control. I know I look like someone who’s not capable of being a father given my past track of records, but I am managing.”

“I never said that you’re not capable, Tones.” Rhodes said. “In just a short period of time, I saw that the kid likes you a lot.”

“He’s still in shock.”

“Who wasn’t? I’m shock, everyone is shock about this.” Rhodes answered. “I know, I don’t have the experience to say this, but parenting is hard, Tones. You’re not just gonna take care some sort of machines like you used to, you’re going to raise a kid now.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Yeah, let’s set the pressure bar a little bit low.”

“I’m serious, Tony.”

“So am I. I know, being a father is not something that I would have in my vocabulary before but. . .” Tony paused. “Peter was one of the few good things I have in life now. I almost lost all the people I cared about and if something happens to Peter because of me yet again, I’ll be goddamned, James.”

Rhodes clapped him in the back comfortingly. “No one’s blaming you, pal.”

Tony cleared his throat and stood up. “Anyway, you have to stay here for a bit. I need to tweak a few things on your brace and make some enhancements. You don’t mind staying, do you?”

“Of course, I don’t. Besides, I need to have a few good chat with small Stark.”

“You’re not going to embarrass me in front of him, are you?”

Rhodes shrugged. “Probably, a few stories about MIT days.”

Tony closed his eyes briefly. “Please, don’t corrupt the child’s innocence.”

Rhodey just laughed out loud. He might not be able to tell Tony this but his best friend has gone a long way since Afghanistan fiasco. And now, his friend was stepping up on a new milestone and Rhodes is going to make sure that he was there with his best friend every step of the way as always.

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, this was now a beta-ed chapter. The chapter just turned magical thanks to gammathetaalpha. She's amazing!

The next day, Peter was back at the Avengers Facility. Initially, he was there with the purpose of working on his robot and bringing the suit to Tony like he had asked, but after receiving a message from Col. Rhodes himself, Peter’s plans changed.

He entered the lounge area. There, he saw Col. Rhodes, seated in a motorized wheelchair, gazing out the ceiling to foot window that occupied most of the wall. Peter’s stomach twisted.  He was going to personally meet the War Machine (he never liked the name Iron Patriot).

Peter cleared his throat. Col. Rhodes wheeled his chair around and smiled widely. “Come here, small Stark! I’m so sorry for this short notice. I would have come to you, but I’m quite indisposed as of this moment.” He gestured to himself. “My brace is still receiving repairs. I’m afraid that means I’m stuck in this awful chair.” 

“N-no, i-it’s fine.” Peter stammered, as he approached Col. Rhodes. Rhodes wheeled himself towards an expensive couch, tastefully placed in the middle of the room. Peter spoke again. “I-I was about to go to the lab anyway.”

“Nice to finally meet you, Peter.” Rhodes extended his hand for handshake.

Peter accepted the handshake. “Likewise, Col. Rhodes.”

“I gotta say, you’ve got a grip, man.” Rhodes shook his head smiling. “And please, let’s drop the formalities, you’re Tony’s son, for goodness’ sake. His family is my family too. Just call me James.” The colonel hesitated. “Or, if you wish, Uncle James?”

Peter eye’s were wide. “U-uncle James . . . ?” He grinned. “I would be honored!”

Rhodes laughed it off. “Oh, sit down please.”

Peter sat down so quickly, he almost fell off the couch. “R-right.”

James studied Peter silently, with a content smile on his face.  Peter did his best not to look awkward.

“Now that I look closely,” Rhodes said after a moment. “You look a lot like Tones did when he was your age, just different in some angles. There is an uncanny resemblance.”

“Really?” Peter said. Then his face lit up with an idea. “Do you have some picture of Tony when he was young?”

Rhodes laughed. “Oohhh, you’re in for some treats, kid. Of course I do. They’re back in my house though. I’ll bring them next time.” He smiled mischievously. “Don’t tell Tony, or he will burn them before I have a chance to step into this compound.”

Peter laughed too.

They settled into a comfortable silence.

Rhodes spoke up after a while. “You know, I almost punched Tony in the face when I learned that he recruited a fifteen year old kid for our team in Berlin.”

Peter didn’t know what to say.

“But now that I think about it,” Rhodes continued, “Maybe Tony was meant to cross paths with you. You two deserve to know each other.”

“Sometimes, it’s funny,” Peter said thoughtfully. “When I remember the first time Tony was in my apartment, going on about some grant I didn’t apply for, I realize how lucky I am. We had no idea back then, but look how everything worked out. I’ve suddenly got a dad.”

“Yeah, sometimes life works in a funny way.” Rhodes said.

Silence again.

“You know,” Peter said again, looking at Rhodes. “You were really awesome back in Berlin.”

Rhodes laughed in response. They started to talk about a lot of things, Peter’s school, Rhodes former missions and adventures and inevitably some of Tony’s mishaps and misadventures back in the day. Rhodes kept all of those rated PG. All the while, Rhodes couldn’t help but feel he had been transported back in time, to a place where he was talking to a young, yet much tamer, Tony Stark.

 

“So how are you coping with knowing that you have freaking Stark blood in your veins?” Ned asked a week later, as they walked through the crowded hallways of their school.

Peter dodged a student coming his way. He scratched his head. “I guess I’m getting there. Tony’s an awesome person after all.”

“You’re still calling him Tony though.” Ned pointed out.

“I’m trying, okay?” Peter defended. “It’s so awkward calling him a dad, although he’s very much a father to me.”

Ned clapped him on the shoulder. “I wish you the best of luck, buddy. You’ve got plans this weekend?”

Peter winced. “I’ll be at the compound. I’m going to work on the robot project, since the science fair is after next week.” He cringed. “I probably should also work on this new relationship with my dad. . .”

“You’ve got a long weekend ahead, dude.”

“No kidding.” Peter glanced ahead. MJ was walking in another direction, holding a heavy book as always.

Ned elbowed him. “Dude, don’t stare too much.”

Peter put his hands up defensively. “I’m not! She’s in my line of sight! It’s inevitable that I’m going to look at her-”

Ned shook his head disbelievingly.

 

Once in a while, Peter would be plagued by nightmares, sometimes about his own fears, people he hadn’t saved, or just a bad aftermath of his own battles as Spiderman. Usually, he was able to get by. But this time was different.

 Back in his quarters in the Avenger’s facility, Peter tossed and turned on his bed. The nightmare was based on a fear Peter hadn’t allowed himself to think about during the day. It had resurfaced in the middle of the night.

The standard nightmare started with him trapped under the rubble of a collapsed building. This time was different. Peter wasn’t trapped under the rubbles anymore. Instead, he was in front of it. Cool nighttime air soaked through his makeshift Spiderman suit and caused goosebumps on his skin. Distant city lights illuminated the rubble in an unearthly, ominous glow. Far in the distance, he could hear the sounds of traffic; the honk of a car horn, the baritone rumble of a truck’s noisy engine, and the distant squeal of a police siren.

For once, the sound of a police siren didn’t have Spiderman leaping into action. Instead, his attention was on someone’s sprawled form, stuck under the fallen building.

Peter took a hesitant step closer.  And to his horror, it was Tony Stark.

He ran the last few yards and scrambled over the rubble. Dread pulsed through his veins.

“T-tony?”

Tony didn’t answer. Beneath the concrete, Peter could see Tony’s face. His eyes were shut. A little trickle of blood dribbled from his forehead, across the bridge of his nose, and _drip drip dripped_ off his chin.

Peter started to panic. “Tony! Please, wake up. Don’t leave me too!”

Peter frantically tried to lift up some of the rubble to free Tony. But, like in the rest of his nightmares, he couldn’t lift up the big chunks of cement. It was as if his super strength had abandoned him. He was completely useless.

“No, no, no, please. Tony! Somebody help! My dad is in here!”

“Tony!”

 

Peter’s eyes snapped open. Beads of sweat were rolling down his temples. He sat up, trying to catch his breath. He twisted around and turned on the lamp resting on the bedside table. He blinked and let his eyes adjust to the light. His digital clock read two in the morning.

“Peter.” Friday’s voice echoed through his room. It startled that heck out of him. Peter let out a curse.

“F-Friday?” Peter asked.

“You are showing signs of elevated heart rate and signs of a distressed state. Should I call Mr. Stark?” Friday questioned.

“N-no, it’s fine!” Peter reassured. The frightening image of Tony unconscious under the rubble flashed through his mind. He asked hesitantly, “He’s okay, right?”

“Of course,” Friday said. “He is sleeping in his own quarters with Ms. Potts.”

Peter sighed in relief. _See,_ he thought. _Tony is okay and that nightmare is just the irrational part of your brain. He’s Iron Man after all._ A nasty idea occurred to him. _But what if a time comes that he needs to leave you..._

Suddenly, Peter needed to get out of his room. He shoved the suddenly suffocating blankets aside and sprung out of his bed. His feet automatically dragged him through the dimly lit hallway and to a door at the other end of the hall.  Tony’s quarters. There was an instinctual need to confirm to himself that Tony was on the other side of that door, sleeping and alive.

“Friday,” Peter murmured. “Tony is actually okay? Right? He’s just sleeping and tomorrow morning I’m going to see him. . .” He slumped onto the floor, curling into a ball and hugging his knees tight. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing his brain not to think of the nightmare. The memories were so vivid, they felt like a boulder slamming into his chest.

“Son?”

Peter’s head whipped up. He winced at the flooding light coming through the opened door of Tony’s room. Tony was in his pj’s and barefooted. But all that mattered to Peter was that Tony was very much alive.

From behind Tony, Pepper peered out into the hallway. She smiled softly at Peter.

Peter couldn’t help it. He tackled Tony in a hug that surprised the older man. Tony glanced at Pepper. “Dad!” Peter was shaking. “You’re here, you’re here, you’re here.”

Tony wrapped his arms around Peter and rubbed his back comfortingly. “Calm down, Peter. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere. It’s the middle of the night.”

That made Peter smiled a little bit. His heart, for the first time since he’d had the nightmare, started to return to normal. There was the Tony Stark he knew, who was always armed with quips and jokes. It was somehow comforting.

“I’d better get some hot cocoa for all of us.” Pepper offered. She stepped out of the room and walked in the direction of the kitchen.

Peter pulled away as Pepper walked out of sight. His joy at seeing Tony alive suddenly shifted into embarrassment. He looked down at the floor. “I-Im so sorry if I disturb-”

“You didn’t disturb anyone,” Tony said. “Heck, I’m glad you came to me when you felt troubled.”

“T-thank you.”

“Now, come inside.”

Peter looked up at Tony with wide eyes. “N-no, it’s fine. It’s your room and I can go back-”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Pepper is preparing some hot cocoa. Are you sure you don’t you want to try it? Pep’s good at making those. It’s guaranteed, I’ve been drinking her coffee for 18 years.” He paused, scratching his head. “Well, cocoa is different from coffee, but still. . .”

Peter couldn’t resist. And so he found himself sitting on the huge, king-sized bed with his back resting comfortably against the headboard. Tony was sitting on the edge of the bed next to Peter.

“I’m not going to tell you once upon a time stories.” Tony suddenly said. Peter chuckled in response.

And then Tony fully faced Peter. “Alright, let’s run through something here. Did you have a nightmare?” Peter glanced up at Tony, startled. How had he known? “It’s okay, I’m not going to force you to tell me about it.”

Peter looked down at the blanket covering his lap. “Yes.”

“Do you perhaps experience, uuhh, lightheadedness, numbness, chest pain and difficulty in breathing after this nightmare?” Peter’s eyes widened. Was his father secretly a mind reader? “You were disturbed while you were sleeping earlier and Friday reported me of your elevated heart rate.” Tony clarified.

Peter shrugged. “Just hard to breathe sometimes, but it’s fine. I am usually able to calm myself down instantly after that.”

Tony frowned. “Do nightmares happen often?”

“Sort of.”

“Since?”

Peter didn’t answer immediately. Then he relented. “After the vulture guy, I guess.” Tony’s look changed to one of guilt. “But seriously, I’m fine.” Peter added.

“Hey, no one’s saying that you’re not,” Tony said lightly. “Were your nightmares repetitive, like what happens in them is the same again and again?”

“Yeah, it’s always me underneath a collapsed building-” Peter wanted to slap his mouth. Now Tony would question him about why.

Stress lines suddenly etched Tony’s forehead. “You under a collapsed building?” Tony echoed.

Peter deflated. He mumbled, “It literally happened to me when I was fighting the vulture guy. He collapsed a whole building on me.”

Tony leaned forward. His elbow was folded on his knee as he propped his cheek against his hand. He suddenly looked like he had been zapped of all energy. He sighed wearily. “And this is another thing, kid, is something you conveniently forgot to tell me when I interrogated you about the whole bird-man fight.”

“I’m sorry.”

Tony straightened up. “We’ll talk about the circumstances later.”

“Are you mad at me?”

“I should be, but I won’t, because it’s two in the morning and you need rest.” Tony said, glancing at the clock.

Peter took a deep breath. He looked at Tony. “Dad,”

“Oh, look. I’ve been upgraded to dad mode,” Tony looked back at Peter. “And don’t look at me like you’re going to appeal for pardon for all your charges. That look is not going to work on me.”

Peter smiled and shrugged playfully. “It doesn’t hurt to try; it usually works with Aunt May.”

Tony pretended to glare at Peter. “Well, I’m not Aunt May.”

“But dad,” Peter said, smiling at Tony earnestly. “Thank you. I’ve never been able to tell Aunt May all about this because I know she’s going to freak out. She’s already stressed about me being Spiderman and I don’t want to give her more reasons to ground me. She wouldn’t let me be Spiderman at all. I love what I do.”

“All right.” Tony put his arm around Peter’s shoulder and Peter leaned to him. “But we really need to work out this whole telling me things. You’re not pardoned yet, mister.”

Seconds later, Pepper came in with a tray of steaming mugs. And Peter realized in that moment that, if there was one thing his nightmare was good for, it was that it had given him another chance to get to know his dad.

By some miracle, Peter had ended up with another chance at having a dad. He was going to enjoy and make every second of it worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And more of the talk in the next update. Just to tell you something because a reader was concerned about this fic ending so soon. Don't worry people, it's not going to end yet. I am going to notify you ahead of time if this story is about to end. And honestly, I wanted to drag this story until the Infinity war release just to help me something to get by bcos of the anxiety of that incoming movie is giving me, plus all the speculation i've read on that. jeez. Have you seen the BTS pictures of Avengers 4? Blonde!Tony people. My god. it's giving me too much feels.
> 
> Anyway, I need to stop my fangirling rant right there because I felt like it's not going to end. I just want to thank everyone who's been reading, subscribing, bookmarking and giving kudos and comments to this story. I love reading your comments! You are all awesome and you're always making my day. Thank you!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-ed chapter thanks to gammathetaalpha!

Tony sat down in an oversized bean bag chair a few feet from Peter’s bed. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs, and clasped his hands together. He stared at the sleeping teenager. Beams of early morning sun gently illuminated the kid’s peaceful face. 

A little bit later, Pepper walked into the room. She paused by the opened door. She spoke softly. “Figured you’d be here. I already brought your little gift for Peter.”

“Yeah, thanks. I’ll give it to him later.” Pepper smiled at the sight of Peter, and left, shutting the door behind her. Tony continued to gaze at his son. There was an odd feeling in his chest, one he hadn’t felt before. It made his throat close up. He felt… There was a word for it, one that escaped Tony. Responsible? Protective?

With a sigh, he stood up and joined Pepper in the kitchen. Tony sunk into a chair at the dining table while Pepper prepared the strong black coffee that Tony liked. She glanced at Tony, whose gaze was fixated on the dark glass of the dining table.

Pepper inwardly debated whether or not to ask Tony about his thoughts. She thought that the uncharacteristically quietness of Tony was due to the lack of caffeine, which was often the case. But he was still in the same state after the caffeine had left the cup and entered his overcaffeinated veins. Something else must have been up.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Pepper decided to finally speak up.

Tony put the ceramic down. It clinked against the glass table top. His eyes remained in their downcast position. “I don’t want Peter to end up like me, Pep,” he said softly.

 Pepper paused. “In what way?” She asked cautiously.

Tony finally looked up at his fiancée. “I don’t want him to carry everything on his shoulders. Because if he fails at some point, that’s going to take a toll on him. It would crush him. I don’t want to watch my own son suffering because of that.” Tony exhaled. “Last night, I saw it in him, taking everything, thinking he could solve everything on his own. I knew what he was doing, because that’s my thing. I know that he’s smart and capable, but the unsettling thing is, it was an adult thing to do. He’s young and needs supervision and he’s okay with going through rough things alone, when he should be eager to share them with others.”

“Isn’t that what you are doing now? Mentoring him? Supervising him?” Pepper asked confusedly.

“But I feel like it’s not enough.” Tony answered, his voice strained. “I know, I can’t stop him from doing whatever he does out there, because no matter what happens, he’s going to do it. Can you believe some insane villain collapsed a building on him? God, there are worse things out there and I feel like I can’t do enough to protect him from them.” He ran his fingers through his hair.

Pepper frowned, also troubled by the idea that Peter got buried in cements and debris. She didn’t voice that worry out loud, though, because that was the last thing Tony needed in that moment. Instead, she stood up and walked around towards Tony. She wrapped her arms around him, and rubbed gently at his chest. She could feel the scars through his thin pajama shirt, right where the arc reactor used to be. Tony leaned into her embrace. “Tony, you may think that it wasn’t enough, but you’re the type of person who tends to overdo things. Trust me on that. Most importantly, always remember what you’re good at. You’re good at building stuff. You fix things. You managed to fix me up when I had that virus. Just use what you’re good at to your advantage, because in the end, that’s who you are, a person who’s constantly able to figure things out. I know you’re worried about Peter, but we can’t watch Peter every second of the day. All we can do is keep on reaching out to him whenever we can.”

 Tony nodded. He didn’t move from his position. He was comfortable leaning on Pepper. He spoke a moment later, and his tone, Pepper noted, was lighter. “I feel like it’s my birthday. You said too many good things about me in one paragraph.”

Pepper laughed quietly. “I’m feeding your ego, aren’t I?”

“You’re doing it right, honey.” Tony reassured. He reached his arm up and around, and rubbed Pepper’s back. Pepper just shook her head in exasperated amusement.

Tony closed his eyes briefly, relishing the current moment, the way Pepper was softly massaging his scalp soothingly, and rubbing the tension out of his shoulders, tension he hadn't known he had until that very second. The silence that surrounded them was so calming and peaceful. How often did he get that? Between being Tony Stark and being Iron Man, Tony had very little time to relax. Pepper made it all the better, filling that detestable gap of loneliness.

Pepper glanced at the clock on the wall. As wonderful as the fifteen minutes of silence with Tony had been, she did have work. “Now, why don’t we make some omelettes, and show your son how much your cooking skills have improved.” Pepper playfully bat at his shoulder.

Tony smiled a little as he opened his eyes. “Bring it on.”

 

Peter woke up and lazily stretched. He slowly sat up, blinking away the grogginess from sleep. The small clock on the bedside table read eight in the morning.

Last night’s events suddenly flashed through his head. He remembered sipping an excellent hot cocoa courtesy of Pepper. He remembered laughing at their super late night talks, and falling asleep with a smile because he was confident that his nightmare wouldn’t come back again. He remembered that content feeling, the feeling of being surrounded by the people he’d grown comfortable with. The experience was amazing.

He padded out of his room and headed to the kitchen. When he reached it, he paused at the doorway. Tony and Pepper were behind the kitchen island. Tony was in front of the stove holding a spatula. To Peter’s surprise, Tony was wearing a red apron. He didn’t know whether or not to laugh at that. Pepper saw him and smiled widely.

“Good morning Peter, come here. Tony was in the middle of-!” The cooking oil sizzled suddenly and Pepper yelped, jumping back in surprise. “-A war with eggs!”

“Yikes! This is tough.” Tony fretted, scrunching his face. It was comical to watch because he was smiling. “The eggs really hate me.”

Peter finally dared to enter. “Uh, is there something I can help you with?”

“No, no, we go this. Just sit there.” Tony said, scooping a half burnt sunny side up onto a plate.

“Yeah, he didn’t want me to help him either.” Pepper said smiling at Tony. “And congratulations, Tony. After burning and wasting six eggs, you’ve finally made a decent sunny side up.”

Tony walked around the counter towards the dining table, holding the plate of eggs. “Hey, I’ve never done sunny side ups before, just omelette-”

Pepper followed Tony. “Which you _still_ managed to burn-”

“A little bit. That’s a slight burn, see.” Tony interrupted, placing the plate down on the table.

Peter’s attention wasn’t on the food, but on the apron Tony was wearing. There was an Iron Man helmet picture on it, underneath _Invincible Iron Man_ was written. Tony noticed Peter staring at it.

“It’s from Pep,” Tony said, his lips quirking up. “To encourage me to be in the kitchen more often and to make some improvements on my omelettes, improvements that I believed I accomplished successfully.”

“Let’s just say we agree to that.” Pepper winked at Peter. She poured Peter’s glass with orange juice.

Peter looked at the plate of eggs. The sunny side ups and omelettes were burnt around some edges, but it was still edible. There were also a fine selection of bacon, fruit, and toast at the table. He looked up at Pepper who was sitting across him and smiling.

“But Pepper did the rest of the food.” Tony said, sitting at the head of the table. The apron was discarded and thrown in the direction of the counter. “Because I figured we’re never going to finish doing breakfast until lunch time if I did everything myself.”

“That is true.” Pepper agreed.

And as Peter looked at them, he was hit again with the realization that he was looking at a family. Here was someone who poured him a glass of juice and someone he could call a mom. Here was someone, his dad, who was cooking some breakfast and someone who comforted him when he had a nightmare. This was something that seemed so normal for the others, but for Peter, it was something so surreal because Peter didn’t remember what having a breakfast with a mom and dad was like. He put down his fork, suddenly overwhelmed.

“Peter, is there something wrong?” Pepper asked, concerned when she noticed Peter staring at the food. “Don’t you like the food, we can-”

“No!” Peter said in outburst, looking up at Pepper. He cleared his throat and swallowed. “I love it. Really.” Peter started to dig in.

“Careful kid, that’s hot-” Tony said.

It was too late. Peter almost spit out his bite of omelette, because it was _extremely_ hot.

“That’s what he’s talking about. Drink some juice, it will wipe off the burn on the tongue.” Pepper suggested.

Peter obliged, less clumsily this time. Pepper just shrugged and Tony shook his head in amusement. They started eating as well.

 

After breakfast, Tony and Peter had wandered to the lab to have, as Pepper quoted earlier, _boy time,_ while Pepper had disappeared into her own office in the facility to work on some inevitable CEO duties.

“Wow, are all those leg braces for Uncle James?” Peter asked, as he went to the corner of the lab. There was a set of leg braces displayed on each of the three big compartments covered in glass.

Tony turned to Peter. “Uncle James?”

“Yeah, Col. Rhodes. He said I can call him that.” Peter was inspecting the braces. He started his usual ramble. “Nice, the exterior was made of titanium same element with your suit and also lighter but durable. Oh! Also carbon fibre on the inside. Wait, wow, is that a microprocessor?”

“Yeah, the advanced one, for built in sensors for speed and more fluid movement, makes everything convenient.” Tony shrugged. But he was smiling at Peter in amusement. He stopped just behind Peter.

“Cool. But why there were so many leg braces?” Peter was still staring at the leg braces.

Tony answered. “So dear old Uncle James won't complain about sitting in a wheelchair every time I repair his brace.”

“I didn’t know how bad it was, you know.” Peter said thoughtfully. Tony couldn't gauge Peter's expression. “I saw him on tv a few times with a brace and he seemed okay, but it wasn't until I met him that I realized how much difficulty he's having with it.”

Yeah, that was another one of the few hundred things that were going to haunt Tony forever.

Peter turned around. Tony wasn't expecting to see a smile on his face. “But you’re helping him a lot.”

Tony stared at Peter.

“And when people help each other a lot, things will get better.” Peter added.

There was something about the way Peter smiled at him that warmed Tony’s heart, and he felt as if his burdens seemed suddenly lighter to carry. Tony fondly smiled back at Peter.

“Yeah,” Tony agreed. “Besides, he’s a soldier. He knows the risks.  He’s going to get better.”

For Tony, the last part wasn’t just an empty statement. It was hope.

He stepped back from behind Peter and crossed his arms. “Now we have a few things to talk about.”

“Oh no, this isn’t because of last night, is it?” Peter frowned at Tony, hesitant to move.

“Partially.” Tony shrugged. “Now, sit there.”

“Great, I feel like I’m in an interrogation room again.” Peter muttered under his breath, but he obliged. He sat at the table while Tony stood on the other side.

“Yeah, because you left out something on your last statement, young man,” Tony said. Peter winced. He hadn't meant for Tony to hear him. “Now, the detective’s here and you’ll be in bigger trouble if you don't straighten this out.”

Tony fished out something from the back pocket of his jeans. He slid it on the table, in front of Peter.

“First off, that’s for you.” Tony pointed at the new Stark phone on the table.

Peter’s eyes were wide as he looked up at Tony. “M-mine?  But I still have my phone, I can still use-“

Tony sighed exasperatedly. “You know that phone is ancient. Let the senior citizen tech rest in peace. He deserves it. He already served you enough.”

“But I can’t accept-”

“But you will. You earned it. Karen is programmed in there, so she can also help you, not just while in the suit.”

“Really?”

“Really,” Tony confirmed. “And then, when you get back to your quarters, your new laptop is there waiting for you. There might have been also some other sweet techs there that teen-lings like you use nowadays, as well as a whole set of supplies for building machines and robots and stuff. They’re still sort of limited but you can always come down here for extra resources. Yeah, that should be fun. You can bring those when you get back to your Aunt May’s.”

“I-I don’t know what to say.” Peter said, gazing down again. He was so used to having very little. His aunt May provided him as much as she could, but it still didn’t mean that Peter received more than necessities.

“Don’t say anything.” Tony insisted. “With that, you should be able to stop your dumpster diving.”

Peter spoke anyways. He looked at Tony with sincerity and gratitude evident on his face. “T-thank you, Dad.”

Tony tried to shrug it off, but he still felt like he was being sucker punched in a good way every time Peter called him dad. It made him feel like less of a despicable person and more of a significant person, with a purpose. It wasn’t the same as Afghanistan, when he’d realized all the harm he caused, and had found his purpose in undoing the damage he’d caused, but in simply being a good father for his son.

“Now,” Tony dragged a chair over, dismissing his thoughts. “Here’s the lecture part. Peter?”

 “Y-yes, Dad?”

“You were under a collapsed building?”

Peter groaned. “You know, it’s all in the past. I’m good-”

“You’re sleeping regularly at night, right? No sleepless nights?”

Peter frowned, confused, not knowing where the conversation was heading. “Of course.”

Tony mentally sighed in relief. “Your nightmares aren’t bothering you a lot?”

“Not really. They came once in a while.” He was still unsure. Why was Tony asking all those questions?

“You’re not feeling claustrophobic in small places now?”

Peter thought for a moment, and then he spoke. “No. Maybe I just don’t like the idea of collapsing of building again. . . But I don’t understand what all these questions have to do with anything.”

“You know, uh.” Tony was trying to find the right words as he leaned forward, folding his arms on the table. “This gig we’re doing, the whole saving the people gig, comes with occupational hazards,”

“O-occupational hazards?” Peter echoed.

“Yes,” Tony said. “We might save people who are hurt, but we also can get hurt in the process. . .”

“I heal quickly.” Peter mumbled.

Tony took a deep breath. “Not the point. What I am trying to say is, I want you to open up to me every time sh-crap happens to you, because that’s the easiest way I can help you and I don’t have to hack down every system just to know what’s going on with you. You said it, when people help each other, things get better. Getting better at the job you do also means letting people around you to help you. And I want you to know that you don’t have to prove anything to me. That’s not the whole point of this superhero gig. Do you understand me?”

Peter nodded. “Y-yeah.”

Tony narrowed his eyes on Peter. Peter rubbed his arms uncomfortably.

“I’m not convinced.” Tony decided.

Peter glanced up at Tony. His eyes started to well up. Tony gulped. He wasn’t expecting that again.

“I watched you die.” Peter said.

“What?”

“My, my nightmare last night.” Peter looked away, biting his lip. “Instead of me underneath the rubble, it was you.” Then Peter looked down, his voice cracked. “I can’t afford to lose another father for the third time around.”

Tony stood up and walked around towards Peter. He hugged Peter. As much as he wanted to sugarcoat things, he couldn’t make any promises to Peter. The world was a dangerous place and there was always some threat lurking around. Tony may have not been a soldier, but he had been in battles a lot of times, and who knew how many more he could win? And so Tony settled on the most truthful words of comfort he could find.

“I’m here, Peter. I am here.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to say that there's no foreshadowing of death in this story, let's just make everything fun and throw a little bit angst here and there, then some adventures coming along the way. I dont want to write about dark and death stuff, that's reserved for Infinity wars. LOL.
> 
> Anyway, as always thank you so much readers, you never failed to make my day with your comments, kudos, subscriptions, etc. legit sometimes, i got teary eyed with all your comments and enthusiasm reading this fic. xD
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-ed chapter brought to you by gammathetaalpha! :D

Peter entered the lounge area where he knew Pepper and his dad would be. He’d just finished his patrol for that night. Tony was sitting on the couch holding a phone and a holographic projection screen was floating in front of him. His legs straightened and up on the center table. Pepper was sitting across holding a Forbes magazine.

“Nice work on stopping those thieves from getting that flat screen tv from that electronics shop.” Tony called out, his eyes remaining focused on the holographic projection.

“Of course you’d know that.” Peter pouted as he shoved his hands on the pockets of the navy blue hoodie he was wearing. There was a logo of Stark Industries in the front.

But Tony ignored his comment and continued to speak. “I just don’t understand why they didn’t turn off the cctv first hand, isn’t what you’re supposed to do first when you’re going to do some crime?”

All the times Peter had been with Tony, it never failed to amaze the teenager on how Tony could acquire this kind of information, even the simplest ones. He knew that his dad was armed with revolutionizing technologies but sometimes, it was still hard to keep up with how advanced Tony was on things.

“Now you sound like you’re going to help them commit a crime.” Pepper rolled her eyes as she put down the magazine on the table.

“I’m not.” Tony said snapping his fingers. The hologram vanished. “I was just stating logic here which they evidently don’t have.”

Peter just sat quietly on the couch as the two continued to defend their cases. One of the things he was getting used to was the bickering the couple often did. Sometimes, the arguments were so heated that Peter felt like a divorce was going to happen even if they weren’t married yet.

Pepper came to her senses a few minutes later.

“You know what, I don’t even understand why we are defending how criminals work.” Pepper grumbled.

“You started it.” Tony shrugged nonchalantly and reopened his holographic screen.

Pepper ignored Tony and turned to look at Peter instead. “Anyway, Pete, we’re discussing about the plans we can have for tomorrow. It’s Sunday and there’s nothing much to do. Maybe there’s somewhere you want to go tomorrow and we can go together?”

“I suggested going to Venice, we can be there by noon if we leave tonight and have some lovely authentic Ravioli for lunch.” Tony said. “Pep, didn’t buy it.”

Pepper looked exasperated. “Tony, no one goes to another continent just to have lunch.”

“I never said we’re just going to have lunch there, we can have a mini vacation.” Tony defended. He looked at Peter. “You’ve never been to Venice, right?”

“Y-yeah, I’ve never been there.” Peter said.

Tony snapped his fingers once more, looking back at Pepper. “See, it’s perfect. The kid has never been there.”

“Oh, for God’s sake, Peter has school. We can do a Venice vacation some other time.” Pepper said.

“It can’t hurt to skip school. It’s just for one or two days. Students can have a break, do you know how stressing it is to be at school and be terrorized by teachers.” Tony said.

Peter was looking back and forth between Pepper and Tony.

“And you’d know that because you’re a student too-”

“Once.” Tony shrugged.

“Not the point. You can’t just rush off to who knows where when Peter has school!”

“We went overseas once-” Tony said, pointing at Peter.

“Oh no, you’re not going to give me that stupid Germany trip to prove your point.” Pepper narrowed her eyes at him.

 “Yep,” Tony commented, popping the ‘p’. “Bad example and now she’s angry.”

Peter decided that it was the best time to butt in. “Actually, I’ve been meaning to go somewhere. . .”

Pepper and Tony immediately turned their attention to Peter. Tony spoke. “Where? Amsterdam? France? Name it.”

“No,” Peter chuckled lightly. “It’s just. . .”

 

The next morning, Peter was a little bit surprised to see that the graves of his parents and uncle were clean. There were two withering bouquets of flowers on Mary’s grave and each to the latter graves. There were also a new set of small bundle of flowers on each graves. Peter had an idea where the new flowers came from, but not on who had put down the older flowers.

“I might have visited one time.” Tony said who was behind Peter and who answered Peter’s confusion.

“I did too.” Pepper said.

“So the old flowers might be from us, we just don't know where the new ones came from.” Tony added.

Peter looked back at Pepper and Tony.”It’s from Aunt May. These are the usual flowers we buy when we come here. But thank you. I appreciate it.”

“Don’t sweat it, kid.” Tony said.

“We’ll just leave you alone for a while.” Pepper said. And the two walked away, Pepper’s hand clutched in Tony’s.

Peter put his own flowers on the graves and sat down in the grass.

“Hi, mom, dad and uncle.” Peter said. “The last time I came here, I told you some pretty mind blowing stuff that I’m Spiderman and I want to help people with my powers.” He looked down at his fingers. “Now, I’m here to tell you some mind blowing stuff again, which you already knew, I guess. I already found out that Tony Stark is my real dad. I admit that I was sort of angry at you for not telling me this, at first. I was hurt too. But I don’t want to blame you that much because I was thinking maybe, that you thought that we already have our own little family and you didn’t need Tony Stark to complicate things. And you didn’t expect that you would go away so suddenly.”

Peter looked up. The sky was vast, and an unusually bright blue for New York. He squinted his eyes. A ray of sunlight seeped between the leaves and branches of a tree. He gazed back at the graves.

“And because in the end, Tony still appeared in my life and now he's the dad he’s supposed to be. I guess, I just really wanted to say that you’re always going to be my parents no matter what, even if some other people have that kind of role to me again.” He turned towards Tony and Pepper, who were standing and talking by the car. “You see, mom, dad, those people are really good people and they’re doing their best to be involve in my life, they’re helping me a lot.” He turned back at the graves. “This is a big change but it’s getting easier because I am surrounded with good people. Besides, Tony’s kind of cool and I guess I’d like him to be my second dad. I’d also like to think that our family just got bigger, like extended family. ”

Peter stood up, dusting off the back of his jeans. He took a long, shaky breath. “I miss you and I love you, and I am always going to be a Parker, no matter what.”

Peter turned around and walked back towards where his new family was waiting.

“We’re thinking of eating at a Japanese restaurant, would you like that?” Tony offered, as Peter reached them. “We know a great Japanese restaurant with the best sushi. Do you eat sushi?”

“I never have eaten sushi before, but I would love to try.” Peter said, smiling.

 

They reached the Japanese restaurant. Tony and Pepper booked a booth, while Peter excused himself to use the bathroom.

After using the toilet, Peter was washing his hand in the sink, when he heard a police car sirens echoing through the small opened ventilation like window attached to the upper side of the wall. He immediately dried his hand with a towel from the dispenser. Then he fished out his new Stark phone from his jeans pocket. He tapped it on.

“Karen? Why am I hearing police sirens around my location?” Peter asked.

A holographic projection screen appeared as Karen answered. “There’s a robbery on a bank at 56th street.”

Peter paused and mused out loud. “The sushi can wait, right?”

Lucky for Peter, he was already wearing his suit underneath his clothes.

 Tony and Pepper were already seated at the floor, by Japanese tradition, and at their table. They were inside of an enclosed booth, a private small room for VIP’s. They were both looking at the menu after the waiters served their drinks and left. Tony’s phone started ringing. He fished it out from the inside pocket of his coat. He immediately answered it and put it on loudspeaker mode. He put the phone on the table. It was Peter who was calling.

“Why are you calling me in the bathroom?” Tony asked as he continued to look at the menu.

“Uh, dad. . .” Peter sounded out of breath and there was a lot of noise in the background.

Tony paused as he stared down at the phone. The gears in his brain were starting to move. He narrowed his eyes. “Where are you?”

“Swinging my way through a street? I’m so sorry! There’s a robbery nearby and I couldn’t just eat sushi knowing there are criminals block away! I’ll be back promise. Just order me something great. I’ll be in and out. –Karen, here they are, web grenade! End call.” The line went dead.

Tony put down the menu at the table as he stared at Pepper who was leaning her elbows at the table and as she rested her chin at the top of her clasped hands. She was looking amusedly at Tony.

“Unbelievable.” Tony threw his hand in the air.

“You did that to me one time,” Pepper pointed out. “Oh, it’s not one time, five times! Remember that time when you suddenly launched yourself to Iran when we were supposed to have a date night?”

Nonetheless, Tony Stark was not amused.

 

Spiderman was busy webbing the robbers inside a bank. It was mayhem in there, chairs and tables were toppled over, and papers and slips littered the floor. Fortunately, all the employees and customers had already evacuated the scene.

He flipped towards the other robber. “That’s dangerous. I’ll take that.” He snatched the gun out of the hands of the robber and manoeuvred his web so the robber was hit in the head by the same gun and then he threw the gun away. He raised his other hand webbed up the robber on the wall where the other robbers had been glued in by the web.

Spiderman paused and looked at the three robbers plastered to the wall. “Huh. You are a magnificent work of art. You all are a good display on the wall. Keep that up.”

Then, two more robbers pointed their guns at Spiderman.

“Guys, let’s make this quick. Someone’s not very happy that I’m making him wait for sushi. He hates waiting.” Spiderman whined, as he leaped into action.

That night, when Pepper, Tony and Peter came back to the Avengers compound, Tony was left wandering through the hallway. Peter was back at his quarters packing some of his things he would bring to Aunt May’s while Pepper was answering some business call. The hallway was being illuminated by the post lights seeping through the window panels that also served as the wall. Tony paused when he saw someone up ahead. Vision was facing the window. He was wearing black long sleeves and slacks.

Tony resumed walking towards Vision. “So how’s the mission? The Mission Wanda?”

Vision turned to Tony. “Tony I-“

“Oh please, I am not an idiot.” Tony rolled his eyes, stopping a few feet away from Vision. “I may have seen a glimpse of your vibranium skin at Miami Florida while you were rescuing a damsel in distress from Ross the Maleficent.”

“It’s a conflicting thing,” Vision said softly. The mind stone in his head glinted. “That I wish, I was able to solve.”

“Oh boy, I’ve got a feeling that you’re not going to be able to solve that sooner.” Tony shrugged. “I’m still confused on how this happened to you, but I’m gonna figure it on my spare time which is running thin but whatever. It’s still science. Anyway, I wasn’t antagonizing you for whatever you’re doing out there. It’s your thing no matter how conflicting it is. We all have our own conflicting thing to manage after all.”

“I have to go back to her.”

“I know.”

“Thank you.” Vision smiled a little bit. “How’s Col. Rhodes doing?”

“Doing better.”

Vision nodded. “It was nice to know that you’re staying here in the compound more often.”

“I’ve got stuff to do here. Besides, I need to keep an eye-”

“Dad!”

“-Oh, here he comes.” Tony turned around to see Peter running towards him with backpack slung on his shoulder.

Yet, Peter halted when his eyes widen upon seeing Vision. “Holy Shit-!”

“Kid, I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that, but please refrain from saying that again until you’re old enough to drink.”

Peter clamped his mouth shut for a whole second. He looked at Vision in awe. “H-hi, Vision. Am I interrupting something? Were you two talking?” He looked back and forth between the latter two. “I can come back-”

“No, it’s fine. We’re done talking.” Tony answered.

“You must be Peter Parker.” Vision flew towards Peter. He landed in front of Peter. “I’ve seen you a lot on Tony’s database. It’s nice to finally meet you, Mr. Parker.”

“Peter would be fine and n-nice to meet you too.” Peter said who seemed not yet recovering from his awe seeing another Avenger.

Vision regarded Tony. “I thought this is your protégé, but he called you a dad, is he your son now?”

“Well, a lot of things happened couple of weeks ago and one of those was finding out that this is my biological son all along. See, how weird human life can be?” Tony answered

“And that what makes human life more interesting, it’s unpredictability and has surprises.” Vision said thoughtfully.  “It’s also fascinating how genes work on humans.”

“The beauty of human species, I guess.” Tony shrugged

“Uh, Vision,” Peter said. “If you don’t mind, can we take a selfie? My bestfriend needs to see this.”

Soon, Vision was watching Tony and Peter walk away side by side. Their voices echoed in that hallway.

“Wait? You’re going to drive me home?” Peter had said.

“Happy has a day off. No one’s going to take you home other than me, unless you can already drive straight on the road.” Tony said.

Vision thought that in that moment, no equation was needed to know that Tony was a lot happier with that child and the kid was evidently enjoying the latter’s company. There was a mutual bond in them, another fascinating thing about humans that the android was starting to grasp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A chapter that Iron dad lowkey spoiling his spider son. LMAO. Also, I just wanted to say that we're going to have a little plot on this story, surprise surprise. LOL. Since we all want to drag this story until Infinity War then might as well as put some plot on it. ;D
> 
> As always and I am not going to get tired on saying this but thank you so much for reading, commenting and giving kudos! Love you all!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-ed chapter brought to you by ever amazing gammathetaalpha! :)

“So how was your weekend with Stark?” Aunt May inquired. They were having dinner at their usual Thai restaurant.

Peter looked up from his food. He swallowed nervously. “I-it was fine. Good. . .”

Aunt May smiled at him. “I’m guessing you had a great weekend with him, huh?”

Peter scratched his head staring down at his food. “They’ve been so nice to me. Pepper was fun to be with, Dad was cool-”

“Dad?” Aunt May raised an eyebrow at him, still smiling.

Peter glanced up at his aunt with wide eyes, he was about to speak when May cut him off and reached out for his hand across from her seat.

She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. “Peter, it’s fine. Really. You deserved to have someone you can call a dad again. I’m sure Richard and Mary would be glad about it.”

Peter slumped and leaned back on his chair, as May let go of his hand. “I just can’t believe I have a mom and dad again. . .”

“You know I really don’t like Stark.” May said. “But if he’s treating you this well, maybe he’s not at all that bad.”

Peter smiled at his aunt. “You’re always going to be my aunt May.”

May gave him a knowing smile. “I know.”

“And you can’t miss my science week next week, you have to come.”

“The schedule was cleared a long time ago.” May said, to which Peter smiled again.

“Love you, aunt May. . .”

“Oh, I love you too, Pete.”

Then the Thai waiter came to their table holding a plate of another Thai dish which was also May’s favourite. He put the plate on the table. “It’s on the house.”

“Again?”  May looked up at him confused.

“Yeah, enjoy.” The waiter left before May could speak up again.

“I-I think, he’s not that bad either. . .” Peter said.

May gave his nephew another confused look.

 

Peter drummed his pencil on the opened chemistry book in front of him. He was doing his homework in Tony’s lab after his school and patrol. He kept on glancing at his dad who seemed to be working on something (as always). Tony was standing a few feet away from Peter. He was surrounded by holographic images. They cast an eerie light on Tony’s eyes. He crumpled a holographic paper and threw it in an also holographic trash bin floating feet away in front of him. Tony paused, and then he sighed.

He turned to Peter. “Alright kid, what’s up? You keep looking at me like I am going to spontaneously combust. Spill.”

Peter dropped his pencil, startled. “Oh . . .” He gazed up at Tony. “Should I start calling Pepper mom?”

That made Tony paused once again. His lips quirked up. He snapped his fingers as the holograms vanished. He walked towards Peter’s table. He sat at the edge of the table opposite from Peter. He pointed at the kid. “That’s still up to you. Do you want to?”

“Well, I wouldn’t mind it. She’s awesome after all.”

“Agreed.”

Peter smiled at that. But then a frown suddenly settled on his face. “Wouldn’t she act awkward or uncomfortable if I start calling her that?”

“Trust me kid, she’d be ecstatic about it. I wouldn’t be surprised if she suddenly named one of Stark Industries buildings after your name.”

Peter frowned even more. “Is that possible?”

“What?”

“To name a building after my name?”

“Why, do you want to?”

“No, not really, just curious.”

His parents would name a building after him, if he wanted it. How could he possibly be that lucky?

“Hey, she’s the CEO, she’s the boss, so she can do that much.”

Peter nodded, still quite in awe.

“Remember, kid, there’s no rush, okay. We’ll keep it in your pace.”

Peter nodded once again. Then he spoke after a beat. “You’re welcome to come at my science week in school next week, you know at the robotics exhibit. You helped me built it anyway. Of course, I know you’re probably busy and-”

“Of course I’d come. I’ve been invited by my son after all.” Tony’s lips quirked up again. “Besides, I got another invite from your school.”

“You got another invite from my school?” Peter asked surprised.

“Yeah, as a guest speaker, haven’t confirmed yet. But since you already invited me, should I confirm now?”

“Y-yeah of course, why not, everyone at school would be thrilled to have you!”

“Okay.” Tony smiled. “Friday, confirm the Midtown Tech invite and tell Pepper that the Clean Energy collaboration trip would be push through the other day.”

“Understood, boss.” Friday’s voice echoed in the lab.

“Uh, dad?”

“Hmm?”

“When you go to school are you going to tell the people that we’re related?”

“Do you want me to?”

“Maybe we can keep it a secret for a while?” Peter said. At Tony’s small frown, he added hastily, “Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful that you’re my dad but I feel like I’m gonna flip the whole school out if they found out and I don’t want that much of an attention, is that okay with you-?”

“Of course, I told you we’re going to take this nice and slow.” Tony leaned forward and clapped Peter on the shoulder.

 

“Really? Your dad is going to do a speech here?” Ned whisper-shouted one morning while in gym class. They sat on the bleachers at the edge of the gym.

“Dude!” Peter twisted around and looked around slightly, alarmed that their classmates might hear them. Ned’s whisper-shout was more like actual shouting. Fortunately, they were out of ear shot of their classmates. “Keep your voice down!”

“What? Is this a secret now too?” Ned half-whispered confusedly.

“Yeah, because the school hasn’t confirmed yet that dad will be here. Besides I’d like to keep our relation secret for awhile” Peter looked ahead.

“Being a Stark’s son is like a coolest thing ever. Why would you want to keep it a secret?” Ned argued.

Peter faced Ned exasperatedly. “Ned, we all know that dad is the press’ favorite. What do you think would happen if they found out that I’m related to him? Didn’t you see the recent news about him being here on the school’s parking lot? And a news that also seemed to magically vanish afterwards in the surface of the media? The press will also be unto me digging my life, and it’s not going to help me maintaining a low profile and hide Spiderman.” He paused, sighing. “Plus, it would just solidify more the fact that I’m a Stark. My dad is Iron Man, he built a legacy and it’s kinda hard to live up to.”

Ned stared at Peter for a moment. Then he spoke. “Okay, I won’t tell. I swear it.”

“Thanks, man.”

Later that day, Peter and Ned paused in the hallway. Students were crowded around the small flat screen TV attached to the upper part of the wall. Betty and Jason were reporting about the upcoming science week.

“-and it has recently been announced that Tony Stark will be the guest speaker at the opening ceremony of the robotics exhibit.”

Students gasped and squealed. The hall erupted into noise and pandemonium among the dumbstruck students. Peter and Ned glanced at each other knowingly.

The science week finally arrived and the Midtown Tech community had never been busier. A lot of the motivation was because the school prided itself in the robotics field. Their name didn’t include Science and Technology for no reason, after all. Most of the students were looking forward to Friday, the day of the opening ceremony of the robotics exhibit in which Tony Stark would grace them with a visit. Everyone was in high spirits. 

When Friday arrived, Peter woke up early and went straight to work. By the time the sun reached its long arms over the tops of New York’s skyscrapers, he was already at the school, setting up and initiating the program for his robot. Peter was proud of the outcome, not just because his dad helped him build it, but also because he poured his heart and mind in finishing it. Ned was also there with him, helping him with the setup.

The robot was meant to be an assistant. Its cylinder body was about the size of a waste bin, conveniently sized that it might not get in the way. It had a small storage compartment in the chest so it could carry things from one place to another. The tiny, but strong motor made it fast and the powerful battery in its chest made it efficient. It easily processed voice commands, and its four arms did exactly what they were supposed to. The robot was Peter’s own Star Wars R2D2.

The opening ceremony was in the afternoon. It was exclusively for the Midtown Tech students, while the robotics exhibit was open for any outsiders. May promised that she would come see the exhibit, and Tony would obviously  also be there. Tony was genuinely curious and excited on what the other students had came up with when it came to robot building.

“I can’t believe that I’m also touching the same wirings that Tony Stark had probably touched. This robot must have fingerprints of him.” Ned had whispered once, while they were in the middle of setup.

“Shut up, Ned.” Peter muttered. His eyes focus on the laptop screen, busy with the initializing of sequences.

“Your robot is going to be badass, I assure you that.”

 

Soon, Peter and Ned found themselves sitting inside the auditorium hall of their school as they waited for the opening ceremony to start. Somehow, they’d managed to get a seat on a row with a clear view of the stage.

MJ came and suddenly sat next to Peter.

“H-hi, MJ.” Peter said.

“I thought you were not interested on going to the exhibit.” Ned accused. He turned his head in MJ’s direction. He was sitting on the other side of Peter.

“I’m not here,” was MJ’s ominous reply, before she leaned back in her chair.

Peter and Ned looked at each other. They simultaneously shrugged.

The speaker suddenly echoed through the auditorium.

“Students, please be seated. The program will start in five minutes.”

Minutes later, the hall dimmed. A video of Tony Stark’s accomplishments and contributions to the science and technological community was projected on the screen. After that, a voice in the speaker introduced him and Tony was coming out onto the stage. He was wearing a stylish, bold steel gray coat with a black v-neck shirt underneath. There was a huge round of applause. Peter’s clap was probably the loudest.

“Oh well, look at that.” Tony Stark emerged from the stage smiling as he walked towards the center of it. The spotlight followed him.

He stopped when he reached the center.

“I suddenly feel like the crazy Uncle Tony who’s about to tell a story to eager little ears on Christmas Eve.”

The students laughed.

“But I know,” Tony continued. “These young students in front of me were no ordinary, big brains inside of those small skulls of yours. You’re here in this renowned school after all. And the bots you managed to build for your exhibit were _fantastic_. I did a quick look earlier around the exhibit hall, and man, I know that each and every one of you has a clear future when it comes to robotics. Give yourself a round of applause. You deserved it. Come on.”

The students eagerly obliged, with much louder applause this time. Tony joined them, clapping enthusiastically also. When the applause died down, Tony continued his speech. Peter had almost forgotten what Tony Stark was like in public. For the past few weeks, he’d grown used to seeing Tony buried in his own work inside the lab. He’d become regular dad to Peter at home (as regular as Tony Stark could be). Now, as Peter watched Tony walk  across the stage and talk, he saw a man of confidence, forged by experience and time. He saw a man of strength, who faced countless of wars and storms, yet managed to still stand strong. Lastly, Peter was seeing a man whom he could be so proud of, be it as Tony Stark genius, billionaire, philanthropist, Iron Man or just Tony Stark, his dad.

“. . . And I am proud to announce that on behalf of Stark Industries,” Tony said, “That all Midtown Tech students are welcome to be part of the Stark Industries Youth Science and Development program. As long as you are qualified and I know you are, I am giving all of you access to the scholarship grants, internships, educational retreats and other courses that this program has to offer.”

There was a loud cheer and thundering applause from the stunned students. Peter was surprised as well. A big smile formed on his face.

“Guess you’re not the only one who can have a Stark Internship, huh?” MJ said in Peter’s ear.

“Y-yeah, and it was great!” Peter grinned at her.

“I am so applying for that, Pete.” Ned said to Peter. Then he whispered, “Your dad just reached a whole new level of awesomeness.”

 Peter just smiled proudly.

“-because I always believe that young people like you have always a shot in creating better future. Take it easy.” And that concluded Tony’s speech as the crowd stood up and gave him another wild round of applause.

Tony headed backstage. Principal Morita was there waiting for him, while a crew removed the small microphone attached to his suit.

“Principal Morita,” Tony acknowledged, as he shook hands with the principal. Tony easily started a conversation. “Am I right that your granddad was part of the Howling Commandos led by Cap of the forties?”

The principal laughed lightly as the two of them walked side by side. “Yes, he’s my grandfather.”

“So what changed? You’re from a family of soldiers and you just decided to jump on the wagon to a different path.” Tony said.

Principal Morita was still smiling “Like you said, young people like them have a shot in creating a better future. I may not be part of the people fighting for that future, but I am part of those people who helps in building  one. I’m a pacifist.” They both paused at the end of the hallway. Principal Morita turned to Tony. “Mr. Stark, I sincerely thank you for what you’ve done for those students, Midtown Tech truly appreciates it.”

Tony just smiled earnestly. “They got talent. Better not to waste it.”

“Are you going to the exhibit?” The principal asked.

“Of course, I’ve already got an invite why not use it all the way.”

“Mr. Peter Parker is a great kid you know,” Principal Morita suddenly said. Tony paused.

“I’m not blind,” The principal added. “You were in my school’s parking lot with that kid weeks ago, and there was news. He’s a genius like you.”

“Better than me,” Tony corrected.

Principal Morita just laughed. “I’ll escort you now to the exhibit hall.”

“With pleasure, lead the way, principal.”

 

“Pete!” May Parker rushed to the booth in the exhibit hall where Peter was standing.

“Aunt May!” Peter beamed at her and hugged her.

May broke away from the hug. “Oh my god, am I late? The traffic was murder and I had a hard time finding a vacant space to park.”

“No, no, you’re just in time,” Peter reassured.

“Well hello there, Ned.” May greeted Ned, who was also there standing next to Peter.

“Hi, May.” Ned also grinned at her.

May looked around, surveying the tons of people milling around. “Wow, there are surely a lot of people here, no wonder it’s hard to find a space to park. How could you students be prepared for something like this?”

“It’s Midtown Tech, May, what do you expect?” Ned said.

“Right,” May laughed “Oh, well, let’s look at the robot that my nephew poured his heart and sweat into.”

Peter just laughed. “Well here it is.” He held his aunt’s shoulder and turned her around.

“That’s the robot.” Peter said.

“Oh, wow.” May looked at a three feet metal white cylinder with black metal arms and metal claws. It has also two elongated wheels, like on a backhoe, that served as a feet. “That looks . . . so shiny. . .”

Peter and Ned laughed out loud.

“In my defense,” May said looking at the two boys. “I know next to nothing about robots.”

“We know,” Peter couldn’t stop smiling. He put his arm around his aunt’s shoulder. “And we appreciate the thought. But watch this, Aunt May!”

“Hey, buddy.” Peter called the robot. “Can you get that remote on the table, please?”

Some people stopped by and watched Peter’s robot. There were blue lights that blinked on the robot. It turned to the corner, its metal arms extending to accommodate the distance from him to the remote on the table. Its claws clamped on the remote and lifted it up. The people who were watching applauded. Peter blushed at the attention.

“He can be useful at home, doing simple tasks.” Peter looked at his aunt.

“Can he do vacuum cleaning?” May asked.

“Not yet, he can sweep the floor though and we can always calibrate that to vacuum cleaning.” Peter said.

“Of course you’d say something like that.” May answered playfully.

“Why don’t you look around, see other robots that could amaze you more.” Peter offered.

“Nothing could amaze me more than my nephew’s robot.” May said but then she obliged as she walked to the other booths ahead.

They were interrupted by a slight commotion at the distance. They all looked at that direction to see Tony Stark coming into view, with his sunglass on. Most of the students who were near him were just too dumbfounded to move or react. Meanwhile, Tony was regarding the robot nearest to him. The genius billionaire gave some comments and probably some advice to that student who owned the robot, but all that student could do was nod with mouth hung open in awe. Tony moved onto the next booth.

“Are you sure you don’t want to tell everyone that he’s your dad? That would be so much cooler.” Ned whispered to Peter, eyes still watching Tony Stark.

“And I don’t want to use my dad to look cooler.” Peter answered in a low voice, also watching his dad.

They turned their attention instead to their robot and gave some demonstration when a group of people approached them and asked what the robot can do.

“But at least, Flash seemed to leave you alone about the whole Stark Internship after Tony Stark showed up in the parking lot.” Ned said to Peter after a while and after the crowd around their booth dispersed. They were watching the robot sweep the crumbled paper off the floor.

“Oh yeah, but I wish he would leave me completely alone. Have you seen his glare directed especially at me earlier? I feel like laser beams are going to come out of his eyes and turn me into a pile of ash.”

“He’s just bitter because he wasn’t chosen to build a robot for this exhibit.” Ned rolled his eyes. “Being a bully is in his veins.”

“Who’s bullying who?” A voice behind them suddenly said.

The latter two jumped up in surprised and whipped around. Tony was standing right there raising an eyebrow at them.

“N-nothing!” Peter squeaked. “We were just talking about a movie we had watched and there’s this villain who bullies people. H-hi, da -Tony.”

Tony seemed to buy Peter’s lie as he turned his attention to the robot who was still sweeping the floor. “Congratulations on successfully building that impressive robot. Have you named the robot?”

“I haven’t . . .yet.”

Tony looked disappointedly at Peter. “Oh, come on, it’s his birthright, how can you deprived him of that?”

“I’ll get to that, later.” Peter said clasping his hands behind his back.

Tony moved closer to Peter and spoke in a low voice. “Pepper was sorry she couldn’t come. You know, her job. . .”

“O-of course, I understand, it’s no big deal.” Peter immediately replied.

“But, she already made a reservation in a restaurant; we’ll be having dinner there later. I’ve seen May on my way here so she should come with us.” Tony glanced at Ned. “Do you want to come with us?”

“M-me?” Ned was shocked to get invited. “I-I am sorry but I already have plans with my family later. But thanks for asking. . .”

Tony just nodded. “Next time, then.” Then he looked back at Peter. “Seriously, not that I’m pressuring you Pete, but you should really name the bot.”

That pretty much concluded the robotics exhibit in the Midtown Science and Technology. The next day, the news was filled with Tony Stark surrounded by students of Midtown Tech. There’s a big smile on Tony’s face. Most people wouldn’t be able to identify that something was different about that picture. Yet, as Pepper Potts held the newspaper and as she sat on her office at Stark Industries, she knew better. That goofy smile on her fiancé’s face was not something he usually used in public, unless he genuinely enjoyed doing something. It was rare. The CEO kept the newspaper in one of the drawers attached to her table. She’d plan on cutting out that picture later for safekeeping, and as a souvenir of one of the many happy moments in their strange little family’s life.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! :)


	12. Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, decent and neat chapters brought to you by gammathetaalpha! Enjoy reading!

“You know the last time I went overseas, I had to pilot a suit from the other side of the planet because you went lagoon diving. Are you sure nothing of that sort will happen again?” Tony turned to Peter as they reached the lawn area of the Avengers Compound. Tony was about to leave for South Korea for a business trip relating to Stark Industries.

“O-of course.” Peter chuckled. “There’s no Vulture guy to lift me up into the sky and let me drop a thousand feet.

Tony nodded and put his sunglass on. “Fair point. And seriously, you gotta stop doing all these different diving adventures. It’s not healthy. I know a nice beach in the South Pacific where you can properly execute your diving skills, maybe we can go there some other time.” Then Tony produced his car key fob from his pants’ pocket. He clicked it. An engine started to roar to life from a distance. The door to a garage nearby automatically opened and a car rolled out of it, driverless. “Pepper and Happy are always here, if you need anything you can always call them. Okay? You can also call me but they are a lot closer for the time being if physical assistance is needed.”

“Yeah, I will.” Peter nodded too. The car slid to a smooth stop on the cemented pathway and in front of them.

“Alright.” Tony clapped Peter on the shoulder and went to his car.

“Bye.” Peter said.

“Bye.” Tony climbed into the car.

Moments later, Peter was watching Tony’s car disappear from view.

For once, life was actually good. Peter had friends at school, he had a family, and there were no super villains armed with hybrid alien weapons trying to shoot his head off. Peter’s day was perfectly planned. It was peaceful, and Peter expected it to be for a long while.

That afternoon, Peter was at the Stark Industries building together with a batch of students of Midtown tech. Some were Peter’s classmates and Decathlon teammates, there to have a little tour of the Science wing of SI, as part of the Stark Industries Youth Science and Development program that Tony Stark had mentioned in his speech during the ceremony of robot exhibit.

“Oh, so Mr. Stark won’t be here.” Ned said, when Peter told him that Tony was out of the country. They were trailing behind the group of students that were entering the lobby. “That’s a shame. Not even Miss Potts?”

“She’s busy, Ned.” Peter answered.

When they reached the grand lobby, a woman in a crisp navy blue business suit and neat tight bun was already there waiting for them. She looked young, possibly in her late twenties. She was holding a Starkpad and on her arm hung a small basket filled to the brim with plastic cards on lanyards. The badges. They all huddled around in front of her.

“Good afternoon. I am Ms. Caroline Lewis or just Ms. Lewis for you. I am going to be your guide all throughout this tour,” Ms. Lewis said amicably. “If you have any concerns, you go immediately to me, all right?”

The students nodded.

“So, first off, I’ll give you these badges for security purposes,” She started passing out the badges to the students. “The head of security is a bit sensitive about badges,so please don't get on his bad side. Get one and pass it on. Thank you.”

“That would be Happy.” Peter whispered to Ned.

“Awesome.” Ned snickered as the two of them waited for their own badges to come their way.

“Hold on a sec,” Flash suddenly said, loud enough to get everyone’s attention. He turned to Peter. Peter gulped. Uh oh. Attention from Flash was always a bad thing. “You’re interning here, right? Don’t you have your own badge?”

All the students turned their attention to Peter. Ms. Lewis narrowed her eyes at the teenager.

“That’s weird, this is the first time I’ve seen your face here.” Ms. Lewis said, checking her Starkpad. “And I am supervising all young interns here.”

“Huh, that’s really weird.” Flash was smirking. “Are you sure you’re really interning here, Parker?”

“Is Tony Stark being at school for Peter not enough of a proof for you, Flash?” Ned dared to speak up for his friend.

“Hey, hey, no need to get defensive.” Flash raised his hands in mock surrender. “Just checking, you know, because Parker here was going on and on about this whole internship anyway.”

“I-I lost my internship before the homecoming dance.” Peter stuttered with wide eyes and he swallowed. “Then I was directly interning for Mr. Tony Stark.”

“What’s your name, kid?” Ms. Lewis asked Peter.

“Peter Parker.” Flash answered for him.

As Peter looked at his best friend, Ned’s expression of panic mirrored what Peter felt in that moment. They both knew very well, that the whole Stark Internship was just a cover up for Peter’s superhero gig, Spiderman.

“You don’t even have any records of interning here, Mr. Parker.” Ms. Lewis was looking steely at Peter.

And Peter wanted to shrink on the spot by the murmurs of the students were giving. Flash’s triumphant smirk made him feel terrible. His cheeks turned red.

“Hey, Peter!”

Their attention turned to the source of the voice. Happy Hogan was walking towards them.

“You forgot this in the car.” Happy said when he reached Peter. He handed out a badge to Peter.

“What-? I-in the car?” Peter said accepting it, baffled. He looked down at the badge and saw his own picture and name on it.

“Yes and please don’t go losing that badge. It might be just a plastic card but it’s important here.” Happy said to him

“But that’s impossible; he doesn’t have any records here? How did he-?” Ms. Lewis asked confusedly.

“Check your system again.” Happy looked at Ms. Lewis and the woman obliged immediately, looking down at her Starkpad.

After a beat, Ms. Lewis was frowning deeply after seeing Peter Parker's internship record that was non-existent a while ago. “I-I don’t understand.”

“Systems glitch from time to time.” Happy shrugged. “Mr. Parker definitely interned for Stark Industries, but he was directly interning for Mr. Stark.”

The judging looks that the students had given Peter earlier were replaced with awe. Peter didn’t know what was worse. He still felt like he wanted to disappear into the floor from all the attention he was receiving. Meanwhile, Flash’s triumphant smirk had been replaced with his trademark glare.

“All right, guys.” Happy clapped his hands. “Put on your badges. I am the head of security and I _will_ kick you out if I see you without them. Come on.”

The students scrambled to hanging their respective badges on their clothes.

“I am so sorry about earlier, Mr. Parker.”  Peter didn’t notice that Ms. Lewis had walked towards him. The woman was now smiling warmly. “We already have had a lot of cases of people using the Stark Industries’ name for their own gain in the past, and for that reason, we’re quick to stamp out any false claims.”

“N-no, it’s fine.” Peter stammered.

Ms. Lewis nodded at him and turned to the crowd. “Okay guys, follow me.” She started to walk, leading the way, and the students followed her.

Peter and Ned purposely stayed behind. When the group was a good distance away, Happy turned to Peter.

“Who was that guy who kept on glaring at you?” Happy asked.

“That would be Flash.” Ned answered Happy before Peter could say anything.

Happy frowned. “I don’t like him.”

“Yeah, we don’t like him either.” Ned said

Peter elbowed Ned and looked at Happy. “Anyway Happy, thank you for what you did back there. I really thought that I was screwed. But how-?”

Happy spoke. “You’re welcome and that would be Tony’s doing.”

Peter smiled as he sighed mentally in relief.

“But I’m serious, don’t lose that badge. It’s an all access card that not all SI employees have. You don’t have to surrender that after the tour, in case you happen to be here again.” Happy informed Peter.

Peter nodded politely.

“Now, join your group and make this tour worthwhile.” Happy continued.

Happy just watched Peter’s retreating figure with a smidge of fondness. He wouldn't admit it out loud to anyone because Tony would tease him about it to no end, but the young Stark was growing on Happy. Well, what could Happy say? He had a soft spot for the Starks.

 

The tour started at the Stark Industries Gallery. There a man in his late forties was waiting for them, a pleasant, professional smile on his face. He had thinning black hair, a wiry body frame and was wearing the same professional business suit as everybody else in the vicinity. The students halted at the entrance as the man walked in front of them.

“Students, this is Director William Spencer, the head of the Stark Industries Youth Science and Development or what we call as SI-YSD program.” Ms. Lewis introduced.

“Good afternoon students.” Director Spencer greeted. “I am glad to welcome the new potential members of our club.”

“Now, first off, let me show you our gallery, where you will see some of the history and projects of Stark Industries. Some project models were courtesy of our young protégées here. I will explain along the way what the SI-YSD is all about. Now come on guys, this is going to be fun.”

The students entered excitedly. They couldn’t help but to be amazed as they looked around the gallery and as the voice of Director Spencer echoed in the background. Peter paused in front of a screen where a video of Howard Stark could be seen, the man who practically started everything and who was also, Peter’s grandfather.

Howard Stark was Peter’s grandfather. What a mind boggling realization.

As Peter continued to look around; he couldn’t help but his astonishment to increase because he realized that the whole room summarized the whole legacy of the Stark Industries.

After a while, they reached the narrowed hallway at the end of the gallery.

“What’s that up there?” One of the students questioned, whom Peter recognized as Charles, one of his decathlon teammates.

They all looked up and saw an inch wide gap in the ceiling in between the end of the gallery and at the start of the hallway. Peter also noticed the walls on both side, there were also the same gap connecting the gap on the ceiling as if they were like. . .

“That, son, is one of the many Emergency Containment Doors of the Stark Industries building,” Director Spencer said. “If something happens here in the building, like for example an accident lab experiment explosion, radiation or fire, the doors can be controlled to be shut down so whatever harmful element that accidentally leaked won't spread all throughout the building. The doors are bomb proof. Good observation, kid.”

And that just confirmed Peter’s thought.

“Anyway,” Director Spencer continued. “Look here.”

Their attention was now directed at the long wide glass window on their side that overlooked the several people in lab coats working down below in the laboratory. There were also teens in lab coat who were observing the work of the adults. Director Spencer started to speak again. Peter moved closer to the window and in that moment, he started consideing getting an internship there for real.

“If my daughter was here, she’d probably have the same expression as yours.” Director Spencer stood beside Peter. “It’s her dream to be a scientist after all, to make a difference, and discover whatever it is to be discovered about science.”

Peter looked up at the director, whose eyes were trained on the laboratory below. “Uh, where is she now?”

The director just smiled wistfully at Peter. “She’s already gone, died years ago. If Ally was still alive, she would probably be the same age as you.”

Peter was uncomfortable. He knew from experience that there was no advice you could offer a grieving person.

“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that.”

“It’s fine.” Director Spencer answered. “That’s why I dedicated my whole life to this program. Helping the children like you to be where they want to be makes me feel like I’m also fulfilling the duty I should have done for Ally.”

Peter smiled at Director Spencer. “I’m sure Ally would be proud of you because of what you’re doing right now.”

“Well, I was really hoping for that.” Director Spencer smiled back. “What’s your name, kid?”

“Peter Parker, sir.”

“Now, Mr. Parker, I hope to see you around here as a member of SI-YSD, yeah?”

Peter just smiled even more. The director clapped him on the shoulder and move on calling the attention of the students for their next destination.

 

Then before they knew it, the day had finally ended, and the students were heading out the Stark Industries building as the sun was starting to dip in the horizon. They were all talking excitedly about how the tour went and discussing about future plans on applying on the SI-YSD program.

“Dude, you coming with us?” Ned asked Peter as they paused right outside the building. “Some of our classmates and decathlon teammates are going to hang out.”

“No, sorry. You know, patrol.” Peter answered.

“Oh come on, you know that I totally support your superhero-ing. But maybe you could skip from time to time?” Ned said.

Peter just gave him a look.

“All right,” Ned conceded. “But such a shame, MJ was going to meet us later.”

Peter had none of it. His face remained impassive.

“Fine,” Ned raised his hands in surrender. “Go wherever Spiderman needs to go, jeez.”

“See you at school, man.” Peter said. They did their trademark handshake.

Peter watched Ned as he ran to their friends standing and talking from the distance. Peter turned and walked away. Time for Spiderman to show up and bust up some criminals. His heart sped up, as it always did right before he went on patrol. The adrenaline felt sweet.

Moments later, Spiderman was swinging towards the edge of a rooftop. He landed on all fours. The cement was rough, even through his gloves. The eyes on his mask narrowed and focused. “Karen, you there?”

“As always, Peter.”  His AI answered. “Where are you planning on taking me tonight?”

“The same as always. Where the criminals are.” Spiderman raised his hand. A web shot out from his webshooter. He jumped off of the rooftop.

And so Spiderman went into action. Actions that night ranged from webbing up petty robbers to walls, to helping an elderly blind lady cross the street. He even saved a cat trapped on a tree and gave the gray, bushy, and grumpy animal to the young girls cheering and waiting for Spiderman underneath the tree. He also took some selfies with fangirls who asked for a picture with Spiderman, and had helped some tourists take a picture in Times Square. It was a typical day for New York’s friendly neighborhood Spiderman.

Several hours later, Spiderman found himself eating a free hotdog sandwich courtesy of Mr. Delmar, as a thanks for saving his life when a chitauri gun hit his store. Mr Delmar's grocery store was back on regular business after some renovations on it. Spiderman’s feet dangled over the busy street below. He kicked them lazily back and forth. Cool, chilly wind nipped at his nose and chin. He licked ketchup off the side of his face.

“You know, Karen, Mr. Delmar is really awesome for giving me free sandwich from time to time.” He said, after swallowing the last bite of his sandwich. He crumpled the empty plastic cover of the sandwich.

“It’s nice that you are enjoying the food, Peter.” Karen said.

Spiderman’s eye was caught by a group of people walking on the sidewalk below. The eyes on his mask narrowed when he recognized them. They were his decathlon teammates and some classmates, together with Ned, and like Ned had said earlier, MJ was there with them, and surprisingly so was Flash.

“They’re probably going home now, it’s getting late anyway.” Peter mused out loud.

Suddenly the group turned the corner and into a dimly lit alley.

“Huh, I’m pretty sure that’s not a way towards their home. Where are they going?” Peter wondered.

“Do you want to join them?” Karen asked. “They would be thrilled to see you.”

“Except for one person,” Peter said, lip curling slightly at the sight of Flash. “Maybe it’s not a bad idea after all, patrol’s done anyway.” And Peter dove down from the rooftop once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wait, there's next chapter click it! LOL


	13. Part 2

“Hey guys!” Peter called to his friends as he jogged towards them. He'd put his regular clothes back on and his Spider-Man suit was tucked safely in his backpack.

 They all paused and looked at Peter.

“Oh, it’s loser.” MJ said. Peter reached them. She leaned closer to Peter and narrowed her eyes. Peter leaned back a little bit. He gulped. There was something about the way that MJ looked at him that made his stomach turn nervously.  She spoke again. “And you have a mustard moustache. Suits you.”

“What?” Peter hand went to his face and came back dabbled in yellow. He immediately wiped off the said mustard. “Anyway, w-what are you all doing here? I saw you down the street.”

“Abraham here was going to show us something, which, according to him, is amazing.” Ned pointed at their fellow academic decathlon teammate, Abraham, who wore a huge, goofy smile on his face.

“It’s true!” Abraham said excitedly. “My cousin brought me there once, and it’s pretty dope! Come on.” Then Abraham was leading the way, practically running deeper into the alley.

“S-something exciting in a dark, abandoned alley?” Peter mumbled, scanning the monstrous, shadowy, abandoned warehouses and buildings with caution. Alleys like these were where crime happened. He was reluctant to move at first, but all of his friends were moving along, so he had no choice but to follow.

“Hey, Abraham! Are you sure this is legal?” Ned called out. Peter's best friend was wringing his hands.

“Man up, coward.” Flash sneered.

“Ned said you had a thing to do and that’s why you couldn’t come.” MJ said to Peter as they walked side by side.

“I-it’s done, and then I saw you, so I followed you.” Peter answered. MJ raised a skeptical eyebrow, but jogged ahead to catch up with the rest of the group.

 “Which was, I think, a bad idea. I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Peter muttered under his breath.

“Don’t worry guys, the place just looks creepy but really, it’s going to be fun!” Abraham said, as if hearing Peter from the distance.

After a short walk and some turns, they all stopped in front of a pub with blinking lights and music echoing from the inside. There were people coming in and out. They passed a man slumped against the building. Peter wrinkled his nose at the putrid stench of alcohol. Some were pretty drunk.

“Really, Abraham?!” Cindy, another decathlon teammate, turned to Abraham angrily. “You are all bringing us to a freaking bar?”

“No! not there!” Abraham defended.

“You are all minors.” The bouncer who was guarding the door, with arms crossed, said to them, “You are not allowed here. The playground’s that way.” He jabbed a finger to his left.

“That is what I’m talking about. We are going to the playground.” Abraham grinned and confidently took charge again. “Come on guys.”

Most of the group just rolled their eyes and sighed exasperatedly. But nonetheless they followed.

“I swear, Abraham, if this is something illegal and dangerous, I’m going to hunt you down!” Cindy sniped.

Peter’s attention was pulled away from the group. Instead, his attention went to the two tall, hooded guys smoking and leaning against the wall. They were both tall and have the same sturdy build. Something about them irked Peter. He just didn’t know what or why. Maybe it was the way they looked, like they were up to something dangerous.

Soon, they reached another building that looked like a pub, but didn’t have blinking lights like the pub they came across earlier, just a light bulb hanging at the top of the door. Surprisingly, there were people their age coming in and out of that door. Another guy who was probably three to four years older than them stepped out. He immediately saw Abraham and his eyes widened in recognition.

“Abraham! My man! You visited again.” The guy hugged Abraham.

“Yeah and I brought some friends, all science nerds.” Abraham broke away and looked at his friends. “Guys, this is my cousin, Sam. He’s an electrical engineering major. One of the people who runs this place”

“Yo guys, all of you science nerds? I love science people. Come inside, you of all people are most welcome here.” Sam enthusiastically said, then disappeared inside with his cousin.

Peter and the rest of his friends just looked at each other bewildered, before following. The place was a lot bigger inside than it looked from out. There was music playing, but not too loud that it would break someone’s eardrum and there were also people partying and drinking.

“Don’t worry, we strictly serve non-alcoholic drinks here because we also have guests who are minors. We don’t want to be a bad influence.” Sam said chuckling when he noticed that their attention was at the counter with a bartender behind it. “You can get some drinks later, the tab’s on me.”

“Anyway, you’ve got to see this.” Sam said. All of them pushed their way through the crowd, and soon they reached a big space at the end of the room.

“Holy shit!” Charles’ eyes were wide as he looked at the big, spacious area.

There, in the middle, were people floating approximately ten feet  above a sort of big circular machine laid on the ground. They were secured by a long harness attached to that same machine. They all seemed to be having a good time on it, as many squealed in laughter while they were up in the air. On the corner there were floating snacks hovering over a smaller, but yet again, circular machine and the people were just casually reaching for the snacks on it. Some were playing games from the lack of gravity in another corner. It was like an arcade with the absence of gravity in some areas.

“Welcome to the Anti-Gravity area, nerds.” Sam grinned proudly at them.

“H-how did this happen?” Peter asked, looking at Sam with wide eyes. He didn't look at Sam in amazement, but in horror. He instantly recognized the anti-gravity tech. It was Chitauri.

“That my friend, was all due to the tech we salvaged from this old warehouse.” Sam answered. “Then we discovered what it could do, we rigged it up a bit, and here we are.”

“Those came from Chitauri techs! Don’t you know that?” Peter said. His voice had gone up an octave. He knew firsthand what the alien tech could do. Chitauri tech never meant good.

Sam shrugged. “Yeah, we figured that out later on. But don’t worry, everything here is not harmful.”

“But still dangerous!” Peter was on the verge of panic. Painful memories of weapons being against him flashed through his mind. He shuddered. “These kinds of tech are supposed to go to the hands of Damage Control!”

“Dude, chill!” Sam said to him. “We designed this to be non-threatening, just for fun. So far no damage has been done and a lot of people are having fun on it. That’s why we operate it only at night. We can’t risk Damage Control coming at us. Wait, you’re not going to rat us out, are you? Come on guys, you are all a killjoy if you'd do that.”

“Peter is still right.” MJ, for the first time since reaching the area, spoke. “No matter how enjoyable it is, it’s still dangerous and you’re risking the lives of people out there.” Flash looked like he was about to speak, a scathing remark most likely on his tongue. MJ’s nose wrinkled. “But of course, it’s an unpopular opinion, so no one is going to listen to us, anyway.”

The group fell into an uncomfortable silence.

“Maybe, it isn't that bad to have a little fun, you know?” Charles said, his voice small. “It seems really fun if you look at it.”

“We are all here to have fun after all.” Flash agreed and Peter mentally groaned. “Stop being a killjoy, Parker.”

In the end, MJ, Ned and Peter were left standing on the edge, watching the rest of the team. Peter was nervous, Ned uncomfortably awkward, and MJ fuming.

“W-why don't we just get some drinks?” Ned suggested.

They took seats on the faded red bar stools. Ned ordered three Cokes. The bartender poured a generous serving of fizzing Brown soda into his glass. He moved to do the same to MJ’s, but she held up a hand.

“No thanks. I don't want orthophosphoric acid rearranging my DNA.”

The gangly college student shrugged.

“Your loss, dude.” He moved onto Peter's glass.

“So what are you going to do now?” Ned asked, after guzzling down half the glass.

“I don’t know, Ned.” Peter said, leaning on the counter. “I’m sure if I told the authority about this, I will be branded a loser and a goody two shoes forever, but I feel like they need to be told. What if somebody dangerous got their hands on this technology?”

Ned didn't respond, only stared longingly at the people floating in the air, having fun.

“Seriously guys, if you want to join them, go. You don’t have to be here with me, you know.” Peter said again, after an uncomfortable silence had developed. “Maybe, I was just overthinking this whole thing.”

“Are you kidding me?” Ned said to Peter, and spoke in a lower voice. “After the whole glowy thing, you’re gonna make me go there?”

“Besides,” MJ butted in. “I’m a strong believer in staying down to earth.”

Peter smiled at them. Life really was great.

_Yeah, the bombs are all set, like the boss wants._

Peter suddenly whipped around. His eyes were wide as he scanned the crowd. His heightened senses where keen, but not keen enough to detect the exact source of the noise. The hairs on his arms were tingling, like they did when something bad was about to happen.

“Hey, Pete? What’s wrong?” Ned asked.

Peter ignored him as he continued to scan his surroundings. He narrowed his eyes, letting his enhanced hearing and eyesight take over. He tried to locate the voices again. He turned his head towards the corner. There, at the door. Two guys were heading out and talking with the same voices. They were the same two guys Peter saw leaning at the wall earlier. Then they were out of his sight.

“Uh, guys.” Peter said to his friends. “I’m gonna head out a bit, I’ll be back.” Then he jumped out of his seat and made a run towards the door.

“Peter!” He heard MJ called at him. Peter ignored her. He was focused on following the two guys that were up to no good.

He reached the door and stepped outside. He looked left and right. Then he saw them heading towards the pub. They passed the bouncer and disappeared behind a closed door. Peter paused. He couldn't exactly go inside because of the bouncer guarding the door. He looked up. He was suddenly struck by an idea. Thankfully, he was still wearing his webshooters beneath his long sleeves. He silently webbed his way up towards the open window of the second floor of the pub.

Peter quietly went inside. Thankfully no one was at the second floor. In fact, it was dark. The only illumination came from the other building a few meters away, the same building where his friends were. Then he heard the stairs creaked and people talking. It was the same two men. He leaped up and clung to the ceiling, landing with barely a thud.

The two guys continued to talk about bombs and proudly boasted on how they’d acquired some big clients and get huge money out of it. They reached the floor. Peter dropped from the roof and quietly followed them. They entered the room at the end of the hallway. The room was dimly lit. He tiptoed towards the room and stopped at the door. The door was ajar enough that Peter could see through the gap the people inside it. There were three figures inside talking. Their voices were barely detectable.

Peter fished out his Starkphone and an earpiece. He slid the phone through the door and leaned it on the wall facing the three bad guys. He put the earpiece on his ear.

“Karen,” Peter murmured.

“Yes, Peter.” His AI answered dutifully through his earpiece.

“I put my phone down there. Record everything.” Peter looked through the gap in the door. So far, the three were still talking and oblivious to Peter’s presence. “I also want to hear what they’re talking about.”

“Activating enhance reconnaissance mode.” Karen said.

_“-Yeah, I can’t believe it either.” Guy number one said. “Someone from Stark Industries has got a grudge on Spiderman-_ ” Peter’s eyes widen and he froze. _“-That dude in red and white tights seemed petty to me. I didn’t expect he would get some solid enemies to deal with.”_

_A different voice laughed, Guy number two. “Right, have you seen videos of him on youtube? I bet he’s a cat lover, he saves a lot of cats on a daily basis. But boy, those bombs that our client bought all for Spiderman? What did Spider guy do to warrant a death like that?”_

_“Either way, we’ve acquired some big clients because of Spiderman.” A new voice entered, a gruff one, Guy number three. “I don’t care what that stupid man in tights does.”_

_“So boss, we’re gonna move out of here?” Guy number two asked._

_“Yeah, I’ve acquired a bigger hideout. We’re done here. This place is gonna blow up.” Guy number three chuckled ominously._

Peter’s throat constricted. Everything had been going so well, and now this?

_“B-but boss, there are people downstairs” Guy number one said. “Also there are other people nearby who will be affected by the blast.”_

_Guy number three tsked. “That’s why I don’t like neighbours, although, they were kind of useful at first for blending in. Well then, you have a minute or two to usher them out of here before this place goes ka-boom. The first batch is about to set off.”_

_“And the cops?” Guy number two asked._

_“Let them find us but they’re gonna chase us blind.” Guy number three said. “We have to wipe this place clean, we’ve left too much evidence from our stay.”_

“My friends!”  Peter muttered. His eyes widened. His voice had been louder than intended.

“ _Hey, quiet, I think I heard some noise.” Guy number three snapped. “Did you hear that?”_

Peter slipped his hand through the door and picked up his phone hastily. Then he made a mad dash to the window. He landed in the alley beside the pub.

 “Peter think, how they’re gonna believe you? They have to get out of here.” Peter walked in circles, pacing, while yanking at the fabric of his mask.

He paused. An idea struck him. He spoke through the earpiece. “Karen, can I amplify my voice through my phone, like when the enhance interrogation mode is activated on my suit?”

“Of course Peter, voice modulation can be done on your phone too.” Karen said.

“All right, we’ve got some work to do.” Peter said.

Seconds later. . .

“THERE ARE BOMBS IN THIS PLACE. GET OUT OF HERE. THIS PLACE IS GOING TO EXPLODE!” A booming voice suddenly echoed throughout the vicinity.

Meanwhile, Peter was crouching down in an alley covering his ears and wincing badly as the phone beside him produced his ear-shattering recorded voice. Then after a beat, a recorded sound of an explosion rang from the phone. That was enough to make the people stumbled out of the place and ran in panic. Peter stood up and pocketed his phone. He got out of the alley and went to the building where his friends were.

People were flooding out of the building and a lot were running in his direction. His idea had worked. The people had to get out of there fast.

“Ned! MJ!” Peter tried to shout, but his voice was drowned out by the panicking crowd.

Peter pushed through the incoming crowd and ran towards the building. He pushed through the crowd. The only reason he wasn't trampled was because of his inhumane strength.

Inside, all was panic. People were bottlenecked at the entrance of the bar, and shoving each other over in order to get out. Abandoned drinks coated the floors. All was pandemonium. He tried to shout all of his friends’ names, even Flash’s but no one was responding to his call. It was extra hard when his own voice was getting drowned by the shouts of panic from the other people.

“Karen, call Ned!” Peter’s voice was tense. It took all of self control not to scream into the mouthpiece.

But the call just rolled over to Ned’s voicemail.

“Try calling him again!” Peter insisted, scanning the area. He went to the anti-gravity area to find them but his enhanced eyesight and hearing couldn’t get a whiff of his friends’ location.

The third time, Ned picked up his phone. “Peter where are you?!”

“Ned! I’m here in the anti-gravity area, where are you-?”

He wasn’t able to finish his sentence. A blinding light left him seeing spots. Then an actual sound of explosion occurred. The whole place shook and rattled with so much force that a section of a wall crumpled. Peter was thrown a few feet away and crashed on nearby tables and chairs. He hissed. Glass embedded itself in his palm.

The bombs had exploded.

Peter remembered the ringing in his ears. There were dusts, screams and chaos everywhere. Peter remembered looking up at the ceiling, a huge chunk of it had already fallen. He remembered the panic that seized his chest. He felt a sense of déjà vu. His worst nightmares were happening all over again. Then scenes flashed in Peter’s head. Reality and illusion mixed up in his brain; the Vulture collapsing a building on him, him being underneath the rubble, his dad being underneath rubble, Peter couldn’t save his dad, Peter being stuck underneath the debris forever. It was like a powerpoint presentation with all the slides changing and moving in a fast motion. Peter couldn’t keep with up all with the overwhelming images.

He couldn’t breathe.

He remembered being lifted, someone –no two people were lifting him away. He heard voices, but it felt like the voices were distant, so far away. Then darkness.

Despite the darkness, the voices continued, persistent.

_Peter._

_Peter._

He must have heard wrong. He thought he’d just heard his dad’s voice.

_Peter Parker._

_Then Tony Stark was looking at him straight in the eyes. “Peter Parker, wake up!”_

Peter’s eyes snapped open. He gasped as he sat up from the cemented floor. “Dad!”

Pairs of eyes were looking worriedly at him. The decathlon team surrounded him. Ned and MJ were on either of his sides. And Peter still couldn’t breathe.

“P-peter? Are you hurt? Tell us,” Ned said worriedly.

“J-Just l-let me catch my breath.” Peter choked, closing his eyes and covering his face with his hand.

“Hey, hey guys, give Peter space, please.” Sam said, who was behind him. The small crowd surrounding him stepped back.

Peter tried to recall what his dad had taught to do if something like this ever happened. It appeared on the surface of his mind.

_“You’re not serious about this, right?” Peter looked up at his dad one lazy afternoon as he plopped down on the table in Tony’s lab._

_“What? The Superhero Gig Lessons 101?” Tony said. His arms were crossed and his legs were spread shoulder length apart. A holographic whiteboard floated behind him. At that moment, Tony reminded Peter of every teacher he'd ever had._

_“I’m being serious about it. Hey, I said I’m gonna do the mentoring and this is part of the mentoring course.”_

_Peter stared incredulously at his father._

_“Oh stop looking at me like that. I didn't tell you Antarctica is the Sahara. This can be handy at times. I may not be up to par with some life lessons but I’ve been in this gig the longest so listen, Underoos.”_

_Peter rolled his eyes._

_“There might be a time that you will feel like the world is crashing down on you.” Tony continued. “And your worst nightmares are going come true, and then all of a sudden it’s going to be harder to breathe because everything is too much to take in. Am I making any sense?”_

_“No.” Peter admitted._

_“Let’s continue, anyway,” Tony said. “If you feel like it’s too overwhelming and you can't breathe, don’t let that get to you. Instead, think of something else, like a distraction. For example, focus on what makes you strongest, or what makes you, ‘you’.”_

_“What makes me, ‘me’?” Peter frowned._

_“Right. What makes you, ‘you’?” Tony countered back._

_“Spiderman?” Peter guessed._

_“Okay.” Tony agreed. “And you are Spiderman with or without the suit.”_

Peter opened his eyes. His breathing started to return to normal.

_I am Spiderman._ Determination pulsed through every fiber of Peter's being.

“I’m good.” Peter declared, more to himself, as he took a deep breath.

He scanned his surroundings. They were in a small room lit by an emergency lamp. Peter was surprised to see that there were more people cramped there with him. Most were young like him and some looked like college students. All of them were covered in powdery, white dust, just like Peter, and all looked pretty shaken. Some of them had acquired minor injuries and wounds, but Peter saw none that looked life threatening.

“Where are we?” Peter asked.

“Our basement, underneath the building that collapsed on us. That damn explosion-” Sam answered. Peter winced at the word _collapse._ “-We’re trapped here. The door has been shut by the debris outside. Thankfully this place is holding on.” Sam slid to the floor and leaned on the wall.

“Right,” Peter swallowed. “I remember being in the Anti-gravity area, then the explosion happened. How did I get here?”

Sam smiled a little bit. “We immediately went here when we heard the commotion. Then the explosion happened. But then, your loyal bestfriend-” He pointed at Ned “-Was so ready to march his heroic ass out of safety just to get you.” Then his expression turned solemn. “Then we tried to save some others before the whole building caved in. These were all we’ve got. Almost twenty people here but yeah basically we’re trapped here, maybe until the rescuers come. . .”

They all fell silent. Peter looked around once more. Their silence spoke volumes, each trying to contain their own fear.

“What if we can't get out of here?” Cindy’s voice was small. Tears threatened to leak out of her eyes.

And as if on cue, the place suddenly shook. More dust rained down on them. They heard another loud explosion above them, and most of them screamed in terror.

“Oh God, are we going to be buried here alive?” Charles said, his voice shaking.

“I am so sorry, guys.” Abraham was looking at his fellow decathlon teammates. He was sitting on the icy cement, hugging his knees. “It’s my fault. I brought all of you here.”

“Not your fault, Abraham. We all agreed to go here. You couldn't have known.” Peter stood up. “We are all getting out of here, alive.” He tried to add strength and optimism to his voice, even though he himself was internally terrified.

He'd gotten out of a pile of debris once. He could do it again.

“Oh yeah?” Flash said mockingly. “What do you propose to do, Oh Mr. Almighty-who-was-so-close-in-peeing-in-his-pants-earlier.”

MJ walked up to Flash and punched him in the face.

Eyes widened and jaws dropped open. Flash’s eye immediately reddened. For a moment, everyone gaped. Then Ned rushed forward, and put himself between the two.

“One more word out of your mouth,” MJ said in strained voice. “You’re gonna lose all your teeth. We’re all about to die here and you’re still letting your foul mouth run.”

That made Flash shut up.

“Okay,” Peter breathed. He didn’t know whether to be amaze or scared. MJ was unpredictable. “Uh, first thing first,” He touched his ear, his earpiece was gone. He scanned the floor, but it was nowhere to be found, probably fell out when he’d crashed to the floor right after the explosion. He patted next to his jeans pockets. He sighed in relief. His phone was still there. He fished it out. He wasn’t that surprised when he saw that his Starkphone was still intact with no cracks. His dad was amazing.

“No signal here, we’re underground.” Sam said.

“Right.” Peter exhaled. “Then let’s use it for another purpose then.” He tapped his phone on and raised his phone. “Karen, Scan the whole area, what’s our status? Chances of getting out here?”

“Scan complete.” Karen’s mechanical voice echoed around. “Unfortunately Peter, no available escape route yet. You are surrounded by heavy debris. I am also sensing an unstable and unknown energy field that’s interfering with my signal. Its readings were similar to a chitauri tech energy. There’s also a dangerously high amount of cyclotrimethylene-trinitramine or simply known as RDX in some areas of this basement.”

“What did you just say, RDX?!” Sam exclaimed standing up. Peter’s decathlon teammates looked warily at each other.

“That’s dangerous, right?” Ned asked.

“Karen, where’s the RDX’ source.” Peter asked.

“There were two sources: under the couch and above the cabinet.” Karen answered.

 The people sitting in the couch scrambled to get up. They all toppled the couch over. There, underneath it, a small white plastic box was taped on it. The box has a small red blinking dot”

“That’s not what I think it is, right?” MJ said.

Sam on the other hand, stood on a stool and reached above the cabinet. He got ahold of an identical box. He stepped down from the stool. His eyes  were wide and his hands were shaking a little bit.

“I’ll be goddamned,” Sam muttered. He paled, his eyes were still wide as he looked at everyone. “I-I am freaking holding a bomb.”

Immediately, there were more shouts of horror as most of them back away from the couch and away from Sam as much distance that the small room could give. Some just stood, frozen on the spot.

“W-what now?” Peter said, with the same horrified expression as Sam.  At first, it wasn’t making any sense to Peter as to why there were more bombs. Then he remembered the bad guys and their intention to wipe out the place, and the _first batch_ they’d mentioned that was about to set off. This was probably one of the batches they installed. Who knew how many bombs were out there? Peter was hoping this was the last batch.

 “Karen,” Peter swallowed. “What kind of bomb are those?”

“It's similar to a C-4 plastic explosive, but with some advanced stealth modification, so it can't be detected easily. The power of explosion compensates the modification. It won’t be as lethal in a longer range. It was designed to explode at a designated time.” Karen said.

“Wait, what? It’s a time bomb?” Peter choked out.

“I-I don’t understand, why is there a bomb here?” Sam continued staring at the box in his hand. “Who would do this?” His hand now was trembling.

Peter took a deep breath, calming his overdrive nerves. “Sam, put the bomb on the ground. We need to see the time on it. It could go off at any second.”

 Sam just looked up at Peter with a hazed expression. There was a beat of silence.

“Snap out of it!” Abraham shouted. He walked up to Sam and took the box from him. Abraham put it on the ground a foot away from Peter.

Peter gulped, then crouched down in front of the bomb and popped the lid open. There was a small digital clock with complicated circuitry inside of it. They had an estimated eight hours before the bomb exploded. The others took the initiative to get the bomb off the couch and put it next to the other bomb. The two bombs have exactly the same time before the explosion.

 “What are we gonna do about these?” Abraham asked softly.

“I am going to disarm the bombs.” Peter said staring down at the blinking red digital clock.

Silence.

“What?” MJ said stunned like the rest of them. “Peter do you know how to do that? I know you’re a genius and all but one wrong move and we’ll never see daylight again.”

“Karen, scan the interior structure of the bomb. I need a holographic diagram of it. Give me a structural analysis on how to disarm these.” Peter ordered. He held his phone, screen facing the bombs. A faint blue light projected from the phone towards the two bombs. He looked up at MJ “We don’t know how long it will take before the rescuers come to us and we can’t sit here meters away from a bomb. We have to do something about this. If anything else, a lot of people could be in grave danger because we just let loose these bombs. Karen is going to help me disarm these. Right, Karen?”

“Of course, I am always here to help you Peter.” Karen said. “Scan complete.”

Peter put down the phone on the ground next to him. Holographic images projected in the air.

“Awesome.” Charles whispered in awe. “What phone could do all of that?”

“Starkphone.” Ned whispered to Charlie, who was standing next to him.

“Can you get that when you intern there?” Charlie asked. The bomb threat had apparently been forgotten at the sight of the incredible piece of technology in Peter’s hands.

“I’m going to help you, Peter.” A voice suddenly said that interrupted the conversation. They all looked at the direction of the voice. It was Sam, who was still standing in the same spot he had been when Abraham had taken the bomb from him. He looked a lot calmer than earlier. “I am an electrical engineering student; I have knowledge about wirings and circuits that could help us disarm those.”

“No, you have to do something else.” Peter said looking at Sam. Sam frowned confusedly.

“You have to contain the energy field surrounding us.” Peter said. “Karen could contact the outside world but the energy field is blocking her signal. We need to contact anyone out there and let them know that there are still people in here and that there are bombs. They need to know what’s going on down here.”

“All right,” Sam took a deep breath. “The energy field was a side effect of the anti-gravity machines up there. The energy field was just at the minimum before. I just didn’t know what made it blow out of proportion, the power source had already turned off, yet the energy field is still here. . .” He trailed off, frowning. Then he shook his head focusing. “Anyway, I could rig that up, I rigged up an alien tech before, I could do it again. Besides, the power source is here in the basement which is very fortunate for all of us. I may need a few set of extra hands to help me. It’s going to be a little bit of a work.”

“I’ll help you, man” Abraham immediately offered, turning to his cousin.

“Me too.” Cindy said. “Probably better do something than worrying non-stop about our death here.”

Most of Peter’s friends were up to help Sam, even Flash volunteered.

“I’ll probably stay with Peter.” Ned said.

Sam managed a stressed smile, impressive considering the circumstances.  “Of course you are.” 

“I’m staying with Loser too.” MJ said.

“All right now we all have teams. Let’s do this. The power source is there in the corner, right beside the cabinet.” Sam said, and they started working.

Meanwhile, Ned and MJ crouched down next to Peter.

“Thanks for staying with me.” Peter smiled gratefully at them.

“Always, dude,” Ned assured.  “I’m the guy in the chair, remember?”

“And another thanks for saving me earlier, Ned.” Peter looked earnestly at Ned.

Ned shrugged. “That’s what friends do. They have each other’s backs.”

“All right, continue your bromance later, we have bombs to de-rig first.” MJ reminded.

“You know, I never imagined that in my life I would see a freaking bomb personally and it wasn’t cool really.” Ned shook his head disbelievingly.

“Right.” Peter exhaled. “We might need a few tools such as a screwdriver and scissors to disarm these. Let’s get to work.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, let's put some action into this one. lol. What dad!tony will do when he finds out what happened to his son? 
> 
> See you in next chapter! Thanks for reading!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think you already know this but I'm going to say this again lol. Thanks to ever amazing gammathetaalpha for beta-ed chapter! 
> 
> Enjoy!

A cluster of reporters, representatives from all over the world, and people who got an invite to be part of the ribbon cutting were converged in front of a certain high rise tower in Seoul, South Korea. It was a lively morning for everyone. There was a thundering of applause as Tony Stark of Stark Industries and Geul Im Park, the CEO of Park Conglomerate and the owner of the said high rise building, cut the red ribbon at the entrance of the Park Tower. Park Tower was one of the first few buildings in the world to be sustained fully by clean energy. It was a successful collaboration project of Park Conglomerate and Stark Industries.

Dr. Helen Cho was one of the people on the sidelines who applauded as she watched Tony Stark and Mr. Park shake hands and took picture for the press after the ribbon cutting. Mr. Park was in his fifties. He has a big body build and placid disposition.

“It’s been a campaign of Stark Industries for years.” Tony Stark said to a reporter, Mr. Park smiling beside him. They were being interviewed outdoors, as they both stood on the granite steps leading to the entrance of the Park building. “And we’re glad that we were able to expand this project on every part of the world. We’re also very thrilled-,” Tony turned to Mr. Park. “That Mr. Geul Im Park graced us this opportunity in spreading this campaign.”

The reporter turned to Mr. Park as the CEO spoke. “Part of the vision of Park Conglomerate is to build an environment-friendly place...”

Suddenly, Tony’s wristwatch started to vibrate. He inconspicuously glanced at it. Its glass turned into a black screen with a message popping out. It was alerting him about something. Tony looked back at the press in front of him. “Excuse me, one bit.” Then he side stepped away from the press. Mr. Park and the reporters faces remained polite, but beneath courteous masks, curious eyes followed him.

Tony walked down the steps. When he was on a good distance away from the people, the holographic screen appeared on the sunglasses he was wearing.

“Boss,” Friday’s voice echoed through the small earpiece in Tony’s ear. “Peter-”

“Please,” Tony exhaled briefly closing his eyes. “Don’t tell me, he’s dangling hundred feet from the ground.”

“I’m afraid, it’s much worse than that boss.”

Tony released another shaky breath. “Of course, he’s always going for death-defying stunts when I’m not around. What have we got?”

Then Friday showed him footages of an explosion from a pub and neighbouring areas affected by the explosion. The nearest building had collapsed and it was reported that there were people trapped underneath it. Friday also shared a list of people trapped underneath. Most of them were children. Tony scanned the list. Sure enough. Peter Parker’s name may have just been one among many to others, but the sight of it made Tony’s heart drop to the floor.

“According to the NYPD and FBI database reports, the explosion has been caused by planted time bombs. The information is still classified to the public to avoid raising more panic. There was another explosion an hour after the first one. It was still unclear who was behind the explosion. There was already a search and rescue operation around the perimeter but they couldn’t move closer to the blast site with the whole area deemed unstable. Peter’s suit is offline.”

“Mr. Stark.” Dr. Helen Cho approached him with a smile and oblivious to his disturbed expression. “Congratulations on the successful joint project.  I told you it’s going to be a worthwhile deal.”

“Yeah, hold on a sec, dear.” Tony wasn’t even looking at her as his focus remained on the screen projected on his sunglass. “Call Peter.”

When Dr. Cho reached Tony, she frowned confusedly at him. By that time, some of the press turned their focus back at Tony Stark once again.

“I’ve been trying for the past minute but the call was always unsuccessful, boss.” Friday said.

“How about Karen?”

“System connection unsuccessful.”

Tony swallowed, trepidation started to run in his veins. Suddenly, he could feel the numbing pain on his left arm once again, that numbing pain was like a bad omen of what was about to happen. A few feet away from him, the media was starting to gather around Tony.

“Is there something wrong?” Helen asked.

Tony turned to Helen. “I have to go back to New York as in right now.”

Helen looked taken aback. “But how about the convention-”

“There’s been an emergency back at home. I can’t just ignore it. I’m going back.” Tony tried to explain with a strained voice as he wielded himself to remain calm. The press seemed to pick up that Tony was acting strangely odd.

Helen knew the history of Tony Stark who would ditch important events when he felt like it. So she sighed. “Mr. Stark, you know you can’t just leave like this-”

“I told you, it’s an emergency. It’s a family emergency-” Tony was unable to finish his sentence when his attention caught by the electronic billboard attached on another building across the street. The screen flashed with live news straight from Queens, New York. Helen also looked up at it. The news was being delivered in Korean but Tony could understand the message clearly when the billboard was also showing the same footages that Friday had shown him a while back. Tony was frozen in his place as he watched the billboard. It was more terrifying to watch on a bigger screen. He felt like he forgot to breathe in that moment. The news also showed, this time in English, a list of people who got involved and missing in the explosion. Once again, the name Peter Parker popped out on the list.

“Friday, assemble Mark 48.” Tony ordered.

“But boss, Mark 48 is not yet ready-” Friday answered.

“Well then, let’s test it for a mach speed flight. Deploy Mark 47 on the blast site and help the rescue, while you’re at it keep calling Peter.” Tony said.

“Stark, what’s going on?” Helen interrupted as she asked once again.

Tony faced Helen as he pulled out his sunglass from his eyes. His patience ran thin. He needed to get back to New York as soon as possible. “Do you want to know what’s going on? That up there is what going on.” He pointed at the electronic billboard where the same news about New York explosion was being displayed. “There has been an explosion and a building collapsed because of it. There were children trapped underneath it. And you know, one of those children is my son.”

“S-son?” Helen spoke, stunned.

The whole exchange was caught by the media and the media went into a wild uproar. Flashes of camera seemed to get brighter at the two of them.

“Yes. He’s got a peeve when it comes to collapse building and now he’s in it and he’s danger. You might not understand the feeling of being an internal wreck because you’re not a parent yet but I have to be there.” With that, Tony started to step back.

“Mr. Stark.” Mr. Park called out as he approached Tony who was about to turn away. Mr. Park happened to overhear the conversation between Helen and Tony.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Park.” Tony continued to step back instead. “I don’t want to go on a wrong foot with you but I have to go.”

Mr. Park paused. He was smiling thinly but earnestly. “Go. I’ve also got a son. That’s why I know what it feels like. I would also run in an instant if I found out that my son is in that kind of situation.”

Tony nodded. “Thank you.” Then Tony turned and walked away.  Mr. Park was watching Tony’s retreating figure. For all the things that Mr. Park heard about the infamous Tony Stark, he was starting to see the genius billionaire in a different light.

 “Stark,” Helen called out as she caught up with Tony. He turned to her.  “I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t know.” Then she sighed. “I just can’t believe-”

“What? That I am capable of having my own family or a son for that matter?” Tony was starting to step back again. He folded his arm close to his chest and starting tapping on the glass of his wrist watch. “Well, here’s the party popper for you and surprise. I have now.”

Suddenly, something red was starting to crawl on Tony’s coat, as if his attire was being replaced by something else. Bit by bit, it was spreading all over Tony’s body and on his head. Soon, Tony was donning Mark 48.

Helen couldn’t help but stare at him, as Iron Man stood in front of him. “I can’t believe it. You were able to turn nano-particles into a suit.”

 “Nano-molecular bond is holding steady, boss.” Friday echoed.

“Then what are we waiting for? Santa is not dropping by for early Christmas.” Tony said.

Thrusters were fired up as he achieved lift. He twisted around and he zoomed out towards the sky. Helen looked up at Iron Man’s disappearing figure. Soon, Iron Man became a tiny dot from a distance, like a shining star in the morning sky.

“Hey, Pep-” Tony answered when he was airborne, but he got interrupted by Pepper who seemed out of breathe on the other line.

“Peter is-“

“I know. I’m on my way there.” Tony said.

“You’re on your way?”

“Yes.”

“All right,” Pepper breathed. “I’m with May, we’re on the scene. Tony-” Pepper released another shaky breath. “It looks so bad in here, do you think, should I-”

“No, Pepper. “ Tony said. “You can’t use it yet, it’s still a prototype.”

“And you’re using a prototype, boss.” Friday butted in which Tony rolled his eyes as an answer. He continued to speak. “Mark 47 should be there any second by now, he’s the one who’s going to be the rescue for the time being. Just be at the safe sidelines. The whole area is still unstable, just be with May. Okay?”

“Y-yeah. . .”

“All right, bye.”

Iron Man went into supersonic as a booming sound echoed in the air leaving a trail of smoke behind.

 

 

“That should be the last wire,” Karen said. “Congratulations on disarming the first bomb, Peter.”

Peter released a big sigh of relief as the small screen on the bomb went black. The people with him in that basement cheered with the success of disarming the bomb. Ned clapped him in the back. Beads of sweat trickled down from Peter’s temple. They spent approximately five hours on disarming the first one. It was already twelve in the morning and the remaining bomb will detonate at three.

“We’re not yet done, guys. There was still another one.” Peter said in a low voice. “But the second bomb should be easy to disarm since I already know how to do it.”

“Peter!” Sam came to him. Peter’s decathlon teammates were trailing behind Sam. “The energy field was back at its minimum level.”

“Karen call 911.” Peter immediately said.

“I just did, Peter.” Karen said. “Incoming call, Tony Stark.”

“What the. . .” Peter dropped the scissor he was holding. His eyes went wide. “And I’m so screwed.”

“Mr. Parker.” Tony’s voice echoed.

“H-hey. . .” Peter answered. His school mates were looking at him with interest.

“Hi, hey. Are you all right?”

“Y-yeah. I’m all right, so I guess you already knew where I am . . .?.” Peter winced.

“How wouldn’t I? It’s worldwide news flashing everywhere.” Tony answered. “What’s exactly your status?”

“I’m in a basement. There were people here with me. We couldn’t get out because of the debris surrounding us.”

Tony sighed in relief. All the worst case scenarios he tried _not_ to imagine ebbed away from his mind completely. “Okay, I’m on my way.”

Peter frowned. “The suit’s on the way?”

“Me inside the suit is on the way.” Tony corrected. “And then you’d better have a good explanation when I meet you face to face on why are you in a pub. Are you smoking pot now? Doing drugs?”

“No, dad it’s not-!” Peter’s voice squeaked. Then a second later he realized what he just slipped off and he winced. Seriously, he was starting to question why was he blessed with such an uncontrolled mouth.

“Dad?” Charles whispered to Abe. “Did I hear that, right?”

“His parents were dead, right?” Cindy wondered aloud.

Peter just deflated, so much for keeping secrets. He continued to speak “I didn’t go there, just in the building near it. There’s this anti-gravity tech- you know what never mind that. Actually, dad, I’m quite busy as of the moment, maybe you can call back later?”

“Oh yeah, what got you so busy inside a basement?

 Peter cringed once more. “I was probably in the middle of disarming bombs. There were two of them here and I disarmed the first one and I’m about to-”

“Pause.” Tony interrupted. “I have to rewind you a bit, what did you just say?”

“That there were bombs . . . here . . . ?” Peter supplied.

The skyline of New York came into view as Tony cut across the night sky. He was wondering on how many times this kid would give him heart attacks that would be enough for his lifetime. How Peter could end up in a situation like that was beyond Tony’s genius mind.

“Okay,” Tony breathed. “There were bombs there, no big deal. You disarmed the first one. So you can disarm the second one, am I right?”

“Y-yeah.” Peter answered. “I can do it. Besides, my friends and Karen were helping me.”

“That’s my boy.” Tony couldn’t help to say as he zipped pass over the skyscrapers. Then he shook his head briefly focusing on priorities at hand. “Anyway, ETA is three minutes. I’ll be there. Do what you’re supposed to do. I know you can do it.”

And for Peter, that was enough motivation as he picked up the fallen scissors on the ground. He looked around; the people gathered around him, his schoolmates and people he didn’t even know were relying to him. And so, Peter’s hand started moving again on the bomb, disarming the last one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1.i feel like I have a lot of things to say because the story just reached thousand of kudos. But really, I just wanted to thank everyone who came to like this story, who had fun reading it and for the people who were patiently waiting for the next updates. Y'all the best! Love you.
> 
> 2\. when another trailer came out about Infinity war showing the bleeding edge armor of Tony, i just fell in love with it. So i decided to include that here. i dont know originally how the bleeding edge armor works because i really dont have any knowledge comic-based. i just went with the flow of my imagination and what the trailer had shown us. 
> 
> i think that's all for the time being, lol. i will just give further notes/points to clear about on my next update because i already forgot what the other things i have to say. lmao. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credits to gammathetaalpha for beta-ed chapter and for some of her wonderful insights for the chapter, she's the girl!

Tony Stark reached the blast site. He hovered above it. Below, buildings were crumbled to bits. Rescuers and paramedics were around the perimeter. Some were loading casualties to the ambulance to rush to the nearest hospital and some were giving first aid to the people who sustained minor injuries. Three helicopters hovered above the site. Fire trucks, bombs squads and cops were also at the scene but couldn’t go any farther because of the risk of another explosion. The only one that was able to go in and out deeper into the blast site was Tony’s Mark 47. Tony could see its thrusters glowing far in the distance. It lifted up another casualty from the rubble, towards safety. There were also media there, but they were standing at a safe distance from the site. The appearance of Tony’s Mark 48 accompanied by the gentle roar of his thrusters caused a flurry of activity. Even from his position in the sky, Tony could see camera flashes.

“Boss, I’ve found Peter’s location.” Friday said.

“About time.” Tony said. “I need to switch up suit, call Mark 47 and let Mark 48 do the rescue instead. I need more power and a more stable suit. Eject.”

The Mark 48 armor retracted. Suddenly, Tony was free falling through frigid air. His stomach flew to his throat. Buildings blurred together, the screams and shouts of reporters below mostly muffled by the whistle in his ears. He spread out his arms. The ground steadily grew closer.

Hopefully, the Mark 47 would safely put whatever casualty it had in the care of medics, and come save its maker before the billionaire met an undignified demise with a _splat_ on the pavement below.

Suddenly there was a _jerk_ and a _wrench_.  Tony’s arms jarred slightly, causing a twinge of pain in his left shoulder. The Mark 47 armor wrapped safely around him. He gained control of the suit, and looped through the air to create momentum, then dived towards the heart of the blast site. His audience below cheered. Tony glanced behind him. Mark 48 was already rescuing other casualties.

“Peter, I’m closing in on you.” Tony said.

“Hold it, dad!” Peter suddenly said.

Iron Man halted few feet above the ground. “What?”

“Uh, can you do a quick scan first around the area? See if there were more bombs on loose? While you’re at it maybe you can start disarming them.” Peter spoke quickly. His tone was unusual, a bit high. “Besides, I’m still working on the last bomb. I can’t just leave it here like this. But I should be done in a few minutes.”

Tony paused. Something was up with the kid. Peter wasn’t saying everything about the situation. Was there something wrong? He thought about for a moment.

No. Better just to trust the kid.

 “All right, you’re calling it, Underoos. Friday, you heard the man, scan for possible bogeys.”

“I just did. Two more bombs, on your three o’clock, four meters from your position and underneath the rubbles, boss.” Friday said.

Tony frowned. Why were there so many bombs in the area? He and the kid would have a long chat later about not constantly putting himself in life threatening situations. Nonetheless, Iron Man went in the direction that his AI had pointed out, towards the bombs.

 

After a short while, the small crowd that gathered around Peter cheered once more, as he cut the last wire of the bomb. He wiped off the sweat that trickled down his cheek. His heart was still thumping a little bit louder than normal, but he released another breath of relief. The bombs were no longer a problem. All they needed was to get out of there.

“Congrats, Pete, you did it.” Ned said, fist bumping his shoulder.

“You helped. I can’t do it without all of you and of course, Karen.” Peter smiled at him and gave MJ a glance.

“All we did was to point out wires that we were not even sure if it was the right one to cut.” MJ said, shrugging a little bit as she helped Peter stood up. “But yeah, sure we helped.”

“Now, all we have to do is, wait for dad -I mean Iron Man to rescue us.” Peter said.

“Is he really your dad, though?” Abraham asked curiously.

Peter sighed in defeat. “Complicated story, but yeah, he is my biological dad. . . .”

“Awesome. . .” Charles whispered.

“The bogeys are down, people.” Tony’s voice echoed from Peter’s phone on the ground. Peter picked it up as Tony continued to speak. “I’m giving you a heads up. I am going to blast the eastern part of the basement.”

Peter frowned. “Wait, how are we supposed to know which part is the eastern . . .?”

“Oh, you’re just in the right place to stand. Just freeze on the spot and in 3, 2, 1. . .”

A part of the wall on Peter’s right exploded. A big chunk of cement wall dropped to the ground. From the darkness, familiar glowing eyes emerged. Iron Man walked into the basement, as the people went into uproar. They had all made it out alive.

The helmet retracted. Tony immediately scanned the area, looking for Peter. The crowd seemed to part automatically as Peter emerged from it.

“H-hi, dad.” Peter said in a small voice. Seeing his dad standing a few feet away from him brought Peter a sudden comfort that eased all his doubts and fears. Everything was going to be alright. He felt the urge to just hug his dad, but contained himself. Hugging the Iron Man suit in front of a crowd of strangers and school friends would be awkward.

Tony gazed silently at Peter for a moment. Peter panicked for a moment. Was his dad mad at him? But then Tony spoke out, in his usual flippant, careless tone. “We are so going to have a long talk later, Mr. Parker. Now, move it out, people. Go, go!”

The crowd obliged immediately, eager to leave the small confining room, and go out to safety.

“Go!” Peter said to Ned and MJ, who seemed reluctant to leave his side. “I’ll follow you in a bit.”

The two nodded silently and followed the dispersing crowd. Peter walked closer to Iron Man as MJ, the last one, left the basement. The rescuers were just outside helping the people get out from it. Peter missed MJ’s focused, heavy glance, before she accepted the hand of a rescuer who hauled her up from the debris.

“I’m sorry,” Peter mumbled. “You’re supposed to be in South Korea right now, but you’re here because of me.”

“Of course, I’m here. What do you want me to do, just stay still while you’re doing something unimaginable again?”

Peter was about to respond when Friday beat him to it. “Boss, I am sensing an unstable rise of an energy field in your position.”

“What energy field?” Tony frowned.

“Ah, that-” Peter wasn’t able to finish his sentence. He suddenly was sucker punched in the gut by an invisible force, and was thrown away from his dad.

“PETER!” Tony was lifted from the ground as well, as the said invisible force tried to suck them both deeper in the basement. The helmet was back on Tony’s face. Tony was able to hold onto the small steel jutting out from the wall. It was the only thing preventing him from going any farther.

Peter’s back slammed against the farthest wall in the basement, a few feet away from Tony. There was suddenly a strong force that surrounded them, strong enough that the force kept their feet off the ground, and they were floating inside of an energy field. All the things inside of the basement were also floating in the space. There was a faint, shimmering blue barrier surrounding them. It was hard to move. Peter may as well have been super-glued to the wall.

Rescuers with looks of panic stood a few meters from the opened hole of the basement witnessing what happened, but couldn’t move towards them because though much weaker, they could also feel the invisible force that seemed to be pulling them into the basement. They were aware that they would also be sucked in if they moved closer to them.

“D-dad . . .” Peter choked out. For some reason, the energy field around them was making it hard to breath.

“Friday, what’s going on?!” Tony shouted.

Even Friday’s usually calm tone seemed panicked.

“There was a power source in the corner of the basement that was supposed to contain the energy field, but the rise of the energy field’s power crashed the power source. It cannot be controlled now. The continuous rise of the level will lead to an explosion. The readings on the energy field were similar to the wavelengths coming from a chitauri tech. Your body heat signatures appeared to create a magnetic force against the energy field, rendering you immobile. Soon, your nervous system will also go into paralysis and it will lead to a shock,” Friday reported.

With a bit of difficulty, Tony let go of the bent steel pole. He was thrown backwards, his suit making a _clank_ as his back hit the wall, right next to Peter. Peter looked at him with half-closed eyes, gasping for breath.

“Get all the civilians out of the vicinity, and put the maximum power capacity on the thrusters. Pull us out of here. Over-eject.” Tony ordered.

“You might want to take a deep breath, boss.” Friday warned.

Mark 48 lifted up the two remaining rescuers who were closest to the basement out to the safety. Meanwhile, Mark 47 disengaged from Tony’s body. Tony’s lungs felt constricted, squeezed like a lemon. He gasped for air. His necktie billowed in the air. The suit’s thrusters maximized power. It zoomed out of the barrier and rocketed towards the sky. Upon reaching enough altitude to create enough momentum, Mark 47 made a U-turn and plunged back into the basement, leaving a booming sound in the air. Mark 47 came to Tony and Peter and wrapped its metal arms around them.

For a moment, there was a game of tug of war. The thruster’s lights flickered, Peter’s eyes fully drifted shut.

But then the suit pulled them out of the energy field. Milliseconds after passing the barrier, the armor wrapped itself back around Tony’s body just in time. The energy field released a strong shockwave, throwing the two a few feet away. Tony hugged Peter protectively as Iron Man crashed through several walls and debris, and then came rolling to a stop on the ground, Peter still safely in his arms. Tony choked. The saliva in his mouth was coated with dust.

Wasn’t there supposed to be an explosion after the shockwave? It never happened. Instead, there was a blinding light. Then the energy field was gone, along with everything inside of it. It left a smoking, tremendous black crater behind.

Peter coughed as he sat up. He knelt on the ground, small chunks of rock pressing through his jeans and stinging his already bloodied knees. He glanced down at Iron Man beside him. He was utterly still. The eyes and the arc reactor in the center of Tony’s chest had gone dark.

“D-dad?” Peter felt anxiety bubble in his chest. He couldn’t tell if Tony was alive or not. He moved closer to him and tried to shake Iron Man awake. “Dad! Wake up!”

Tony didn’t respond.

“No, n-no, n-no . . .” Tears were starting to well up on Peter’s eyes. He then shouted, “DAD, WAKE UP!!”

Suddenly, the eyes on the faceplate and the arc reactor glowed to life.

“What the-!” Tony gasped. The helmet retracted. He raised his head to look up at Peter. “Did you just shout at me?”

But Peter didn’t care, he dived at Tony, hugging his dad tightly. Tony was shocked into stillness. Tears silently fell down Peter’s cheeks and he shook uncontrollably. It was tears of fear, relief and joy, the kind of tears that held emotions that couldn’t be voiced with words. Tony was awkwardly tense for a moment, before patting Peter’s back comfortingly. There were no words meant for that moment. All that mattered was they were together, safe and sound.

Soon, paramedics were running towards them. Peter and Tony watched Pepper and May wrestle their way past an army of policemen and medics, desperately calling their names from a distance.

 

"The anti-gravitational discharge of the energy field counteracted the nuclear reaction. That’s why the blast never happened. It appeared that everything in it has been disintegrated,” Karen reported to Peter.

Peter was sitting on his bed, in his quarters in the Avengers Facility. His new laptop was sitting on his lap. It was already five in the morning and he needed rest, but he still felt too awake and alert to sleep after what had happened hours ago. Besides, there were things he needed to do first.

“Why are you still with a gadget? You should be resting now.”

Peter looked up and saw Tony leaning on the doorframe with crossed arms. The teenager pulled down the hood of his jacket from his head and set aside his laptop after shutting it close. His father walked up to him. He was now wearing an undershirt that hugged his frame. Its sleeves went up to the elbows. Peter frowned, seeing quite a long, but minor gash on Tony’s arm. He hadn’t noticed it before because Tony had been wearing his usual long sleeves, coat and tie earlier. There was also a small scratch on Tony’s cheek

“I’ve already talked to the FBI and have given them the copy of the CCTV footages you managed to hack into. The bombers’ faces were so clear on those footages that the FBI won’t break a sweat apprehending them.” Tony sat down on the edge of the bed.

Peter had become suspicious about the bad guys’ intention on why they were so hellbent on tearing the whole area down to the point of planting bombs on a building they generally had no business with. So Peter asked Karen to hack into the server of Sam’s system in the basement while he had been disarming the bombs. Karen managed to salvage some valuable info before all the things there had been wiped clear. The most valuable information was the CCTV footages inside the building. The three bad guys that Peter had seen in the pub were caught on those footages. He had given that footage to his dad after receiving another _interrogation_ on how he had ended up in that area and about the bombers he encountered.

Peter nodded in acknowledgement, but the wound on Tony’s arm still bothered him. His frown deepened. “Has that gash on your arm been treated? It looks bad.”

Tony looked down at his arm. The genius billionaire chuckled in response. “Yeah, I did a quick first aid on it and put antiseptic. It should be fine.”

Peter continued to frown.

“Hey, don’t underestimate my healing capabilities just because I wasn’t bitten by a radioactive spider.” Tony playfully said.

“It’s just that. . .” Peter looked down, fidgeting with his fingers. “You have those injuries now because of me.”

Tony stared at Peter for a moment, then scooted closer to Peter. He put his arm around his son’s shoulder. “You know that there are jobs, responsibilities that parents got to do when it comes to their child or children. One of those is putting their child out of harm’s way. It’s like a law for us parents that we should abide no matter what. That’s why you gotta stop blaming yourself for it because this is not a burden for us. It’s just something parents need to do, all right?”

“I thought I lost you earlier.” Peter said in a small voice, still studying his fingers.

“But you didn’t.”

“Yeah . . .”

There was a beat before Tony spoke again. “But seriously, aren’t we going to talk about how you managed to disarm bombs? You could be applying for a bomb squad early.”

“You built a circuit board at the age of four.” Peter glanced up at his dad, a small smile gracing his lips.

“Circuit boards aren’t life threatening, Peter.”

Peter smile grew wider. “Right.”

“I’m proud of you, son, always.” Tony kissed the top of Peter’s head. Then he pulled away. “But hopefully, you won’t encounter bombs ever again.”

“Anyway . . .” He looked down at his son. “Is that all I needed to know about these bomb goons you encountered, that they make stealth mode bombs and all, nothing else?”

“Nothing, that’s all.” Peter clasped his hands together a little bit tighter than normal.

Tony nodded. “Okay. They should be behind the bars anytime soon so you can rest your case about them. Now, we should get our sleep. May and Pepper are going to murder us both if they still find us awake.”

With that, Peter chuckled a little bit. May had decided to stay in the Avengers Facility for that morning instead of going home.

Peter was lying on the bed and Tony was about to walk out of the room when he turned around and faced Peter.

“I forgot to tell you something.” Tony said.

“What?” Peter frowned.

“I might have broadcasted in front of the media that I have a son. I didn’t say your name, but by the turn of events earlier, they should be able to pick up that it’s you. Sorry about that. I wasn’t able to hold the end of taking this nice and slow.”

“No, it’s fine actually, you’re not the only one who slipped, I guess. . .” Peter said. “I called you dad in front of my classmates and strangers in that basement remember?”

Tony threw his hand in the air as he smiled “Guess, runs in the family.”

Peter chuckled again.

“Will you be okay that everyone knows that you’re related to me?” Tony asked. There was a tinge of hesitance in his voice.

“Of course, it’s something that I can be proud of.” Peter answered earnestly.

Tony just nodded. A small, content smile spread over his face. “All right, rest up now. Friday, lights off.”

Peter’s room darkened as Tony headed out of the room and closed the door behind. Peter waited for a minute, before sitting up again and getting his laptop from the bedside table. He opened it and turned it on. The light on the screen cast a dim, eerie glow on Peter’s face.

The screen read:

_System configuration complete._

He might have... avoided some parts of the truth when Tony asked him about the bad guys. Peter hadn’t told him everything. He possibly had left out the part where he overheard that the bad guys had a client with a grudge on Spiderman and who happened to work for Stark Industries. Peter hadn’t even showed Tony the video of the conversation that Karen managed to record when they’d been spying on the bad guys. He’d safely put the video on a private server that he’d created. Friday wouldn’t be able to tap into that server and he’d configured Karen’s program so that she wouldn’t be able to report it to Tony.

Being always at Tony’s side has a lot of perks; one of those was improving a lot on programming. Tony had taught him a lot of tricks and tips when it came to that area. That was why Peter was confident that he could keep it a secret for awhile. For how long, he didn’t know. His dad had a mind that worked at the speed of lightning, after all. But he was determined to keep that information to himself for as long as he could.

 He felt bad for lying to his dad or going behind his back again, but he couldn’t risk it again. The fact that Tony would readily dive in front of Peter if something happened? It terrified Peter. It might be Tony’s responsibility, but Peter couldn’t bear to lose his dad for that responsibility. Besides, there were people who could be in danger because of those bombs, because of him. He couldn’t afford that to happen.

Lastly, the grudge was on Spiderman and no one else. It was Peter’s battle to face. He couldn’t let other people get tangled up in his own messes. That’s how people ended up hurt, or dead.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peter nO.
> 
> HAHAHAHAHAHA. Smells like someone is going for another trouble? hmm.
> 
> Anywway here are the two things I need to clarify and say:
> 
> 1\. I'm not a science-ish person, so everything mentioned above that sounds sciencey were mostly made up by my over imaginative mind. So if there are things in this chapter that went against science facts (that i dont even know) let's just ignore it. :D
> 
> 2\. OH. MY. GOD. I know most of you have seen the new infinity war trailer. i think Marvel just killed me again with that new trailer. my heart can't literally take it, they were all in pain or screaming for the most part of the trailer. 
> 
> 3\. thank you so much for your continuous support on this story! Thanks for reading.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a beta  
> Name's gammathetaalpha  
> She's really awesome.
> 
> I'm actually running out of things to say to acknowledge gammathetaalpha without sounding like a robot for repeating the same words on every update. Pardon my failed attempt at doing haiku!

Peter lost count of how many people at school had asked him if he was really Tony Stark’s son. Students he didn’t know, students he had seen for the first time, his classmates and friends who weren’t at the incident last weekend, kept on coming his way to ask the ultimate question. #TonyStarkHasASon was trending on social media. Their whole secret relation was out in the open.

He was proud as always that he was related to Tony, but the unnecessary attention was too much. He wanted to borrow Ant-Man’s suit and shrink to a tiny size, so people would stop treating him like something special. And all the murmurs he could hear from a distance, thanks to his superhuman hearing, weren’t helping. One student had even come up to him and had asked for a picture. He’d just scurried away in alarm. That was Spider-Man’s thing, not Peter Parker’s. Spider-Man was a hero, Peter Parker was a loser.

Peter pulled out what he needed for the next class and closed his locker. He tugged down the hood of his jacket further over his head. His gaze was on the floor as he walked through the hallway, towards his class. He could feel sets of eyes following his trail.

“Peter!”

He turned to see Ned running his way. He sighed in relief. At least he’d have company to get him through the unnerving day.

“You’re trending.” That was the first thing Ned said to him when he reached Peter.

Peter groaned. “Oh, not you too.” They started walking again.

“What?”

“I’m getting tired of everyone talking about me. So please let’s not talk about me for awhile.” Peter said.

Ned winced. “Right.”

“Anyway,” Peter briefly turned to Ned. “Are you free after class? Can we go somewhere? I need to tell you something.”

Ned gave him a sigh. “Dude, I have to go straight home. I’m actually grounded.”

That made Peter pause, with a surprised look etched on his face. Ned also paused. “Grounded? Why?”

“After the whole anti-gravity shenanigans, what do you expect? My parents were pissed off that I was hanging out around a pub in the first place.” Ned said. “You’re lucky Mr. Stark was cooler than my parents and gave you a free pass after what just happened. I bet all our classmates and decathlon teammates involved in that incident suffered the same fate as mine.”

“How long are you grounded?”

“Indefinitely.”

“That sucks.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.”

“Anyway, I really have to tell you something maybe at lunch break?”

“Okay, but first off, let’s run to our Chemistry class, we’re going to be late.”

 

“What? This is insane!” Ned looked up at Peter, flabbergasted. He was holding Peter’s Starkphone and an earphone was attached to Ned’s one ear. Peter had  just showed him the recorded video of the bombers talking about their client who had a grudge on Spiderman.

 They’d decided to head to the music room and spend their lunch break there. The cafeteria was a minefield. Everywhere Peter went, there were eyes, and whispers.

“I know.” Peter focused on the empty hallway.

“And Mr. Stark doesn’t know this?” Ned asked. “Peter, of all the things that Mr. Stark should know about you, I think this is topping the list.”

Peter just sighed. “I just can’t. What if he went after whoever this client is and Dad just got caught up in something dangerous because of me?”

“And that’s exactly you should tell him! It’s really dangerous if someone is onto you. It’s not like you know better than Iron Man.”

“I can’t bear to lose my dad because of me!” Peter hissed.

“So that’s why you’re going instead? Of all people who could help you unveil whoever this client is, Mr. Stark would be the best man for that.”

“I don’t want to involve anyone with this. It started because of Spiderman, and Spiderman should be the one who finishes it.” Peter said determinedly

“Peter, this is still a seriously messed up idea.”

“Ned, please.” Peter pleaded. “I told you about this because I trust you, and I felt like I have to tell someone this because it’s kind of freaking me out.”

“Then what are you planning to do about it?”

“I’m planning on scouting Stark Industries. Maybe the scouting could give me a hint on whoever this client is. He works at Stark Industries after all. And right now, the priority are the bombs that are still with him. I don’t know how he’s planning to use that against me, but it could be so much worse if civilians got involved in this again. I also need to find out also what the grudge is all about.”

Ned gave the phone to Peter, who took it back. Ned had a sour look on his face. “I’m still not one hundred percent convinced that you should do this alone.”

“But I have to.” Peter said, as they reached the door of the music room.

Ned opened it and they both went inside. They were a bit surprised that MJ was there sitting on a chair with her feet propped up on another chair and a book in her hand.

She looked up from her book nonchalantly. “What? I’m here first.”

“Maybe, you can share the room with us.” Ned said.

“Whatever.” She returned her attention to her book.

Peter thought that his misery would end when he left school. However, a mob of strangers flocked Peter the second he walked through the gates. Some were holding a mic and a camera.

Great. Paparazzi.

_“You’re Peter Parker right? Tony Stark’s son?”_

_“Did you know all this time that he was your dad?”_

_“So you’re like he’s illegitimate son?”_

The teenager was rooted to the ground in shock. Peter had expected this at some point but not in this instant, nor in this magnitude or degree. A sleek black car pulled up right behind the mob. Happy Hogan climbed out from the car.

“Hey, hey!” Happy shouted at the paparazzi and walked towards Peter. “Get out of the way, get out. You are harassing a minor. Don’t you know I can sue you all because of this?” Then he grabbed Peter by the arm and dragged him away. They went immediately to the car.

“I told you to wait for me at the parking lot!” Happy reprimanded when they were safely inside, and driving away.

“Sorry.” Peter mumbled.

Happy waved him off with one hand. He muttered, “Of course, where are you going to inherit being a stubborn prick?” Then he added in a much louder voice, glancing at Peter on the rear view mirror. “That’s why, when I said you gotta wait for me, you needed to wait for me, okay? The people out there know about you now. And I’m responsible to keep you from getting chewed up and spit out.”

“Is it going to be like this every day?” Peter mumbled once again.

“Sorry kid, your father is Tony Stark, it’s bound to happen. But believe me, this whole thing will pass soon and before you know it, the public will find some other breaking news to get all excited about.”

Peter woke up to the alarm on his phone. It was another morning for Peter, and he had to prepare for school. He stretched out on his bed. He could already smell his aunt May’s bacon wafting in the air. Aside from that, he could hear her talking . . . to someone, and that someone answered back.

He jolted out of bed, feeling more awake than he usually did in the morning. He blinked a little bit, wondering for a second if he was still dreaming.  When he was sure that he was not, he bolted out of his room. He ran for the kitchen, his feet sliding on the floor.

There in the kitchen was Tony, sitting at the dining table in his usual tailored coat. May was standing at the stove with an apron on.

“Morning,” Tony said when he saw his son. “Nice pj’s.”

Peter looked down.

Well darn.  Why on _Earth_ had his dad decided to visit the morning he wore the Hello Kitty pajamas his dad had bought for him after the ferry incident? Now, Tony would tease him mercilessly about it and probably replace all of his pajamas at the Avengers facility with Hello Kity pj’s just for the hell of it.

“I actually encouraged him to wear those often, it’s cute.” May admitted. “Sit down here, Pete, and have some breakfast.”

Peter was still attempting to rectify the situation.

“All my pj’s were dirty! I had no other choice but to wear these.” Peter insisted. “Anyway, what are you doing here so early in the morning?” He walked to the dining table and sat at it.

“I have a sudden overseas business trip that I really have to attend so I thought I’d drop by here first to let you know.” Tony said, and sipped at the mug of coffee.

“How long will you be gone?” Peter asked.

“Just a day or two.” Tony answered.

Peter nodded and started eating.

 Soon, they were out of the apartment building and Happy was standing by the car from nearby waiting for them.

“You know, I can always take the train, you don’t have to drop me off to school, you might get late with your flight and all. .  .” Peter said as they walked on the sidewalks. People who passed by them gave them a double look, and it was something that Peter was getting used to by now.

Tony just laughed in response putting his sunglass on. “Kid, I am never going to be late on my own flight. I made your Uncle Rhodey wait for three hours for a flight before.”

“Seriously?”

Tony just waved his hand in dismissal. He paused and Peter did the same. “You know, to be honest, I don’t want to leave this state. Because every time I go for a ten thousand mile trip from here, trouble is always finding you. I trust you and I know you’re capable, but of course, your old man will always worry . . .” Tony looked ahead.

Peter’s heart constricted a bit.  His dad trusted him so much. Should he tell Tony about someone having a grudge on Spiderman? But it would also lead to Tony cancelling his business trip pronto if he learned something like that, and who knew how important this business trip was.

“You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll be fine. . .” Peter assured. The last part sounded more like a question to him than a statement. “By the way, can you tell me what this business trip is all about? Where are you going?”

“Vienna, Austria. It’s an Avengers business trip. I’m going to the UN headquarters.” Tony answered.

“Is it about the Accords?” Peter asked curiously.

“Yeah, some secretary of state was pulling tricks behind my back-”

Peter winced at that. Ross was going behind Tony’s back, just like Peter. The statement might as well have been directed at him.

 “-and I have to be there just to make sure he’s not doing funny business.  Anyway, we should get going, you’ll be late for school. Come on.” With that, Tony ushered his son to the car.

They sped off.

 

Peter took a deep breath as he stopped in front of Stark Industries building. He had gone there after his class for the scouting he would do about the mystery client. It was just supposed to be a simple scouting, but he felt quite unnerved. There was no harm that could be done in observing, right?

He put his earphones in his ears. That was how he was going to communicate with Karen without looking suspicious,  since he would look as if he was just listening to music.

“Hey, Karen,” Peter called.

“Yes, Peter.” His AI answered dutifully.

“Be on standby, okay?”

“Of course, Peter.” Karen said.

With that, Peter wore his badge and adjusted his backpack. He went inside, into the lobby. Seeing the vastness of the lobby hit Peter with the realization that he had no idea where to start or where to look at first or what he should even do. He had no concrete plan for this scout mission or how to zero in on the mystery client.

“Hey, who are you?”

Peter turned at the source of the voice; a security guard was coming towards him. Peter pulled the earphone out of one ear.

“Are you lost kid?” The security said, as he stopped in front of Peter. Then his eyes wandered to the badge that Peter wore. “You got a badge, are you going somewhere? Intern? Intern division is in the eastern wing.”

“Uh. . .”

The guard was looking at him expectantly.

“Peter?”

Once again, Peter looked towards the direction the voice had come from. So did the guard. Pepper Potts was walking towards them. She wore a sophisticated maroon suit and black pencil skirt and black tank top partnered with brown pumps. Her blonde hair was up in a ponytail. Her assistant was trailing behind her. She looked surprised, yet at the same time delighted to see Peter.

“It’s a surprise seeing you here out of the blue” Pepper said, when she reached Peter. The earlier guard gawked at Peter for knowing the CEO of Stark Industries.

“It’s all right, Mr. Jackson.” Pepper smiled to the guard. “We’re good here, it’s just Peter.” She looked back at Peter and continued to smile.

“Y-yes, o-of course, Ma’am,” The guard stammered and backed away.

“You idiot!” The assistant whispered to the guard. “That’s Mr. Tony Stark’s son, how can you not know that? Do you even watch news?”

The guard just scratched his head.

“Well,” Pepper smiled once again at Peter. They started to walk casually side by side. “What do we owe the pleasure of this visit, Pete?”

Peter was racking his brain for some excuse.

“Uh, I, uh, you know t-the Stark Industries Youth and Science Development program,” Peter swallowed. “We, our school, visited here the last time and talked about this whole program. . .”

“Yes, I’m aware of that.” Pepper said courteously.

“I-I was kinda interested on that program honestly, t-that’s why I came back here and visited. . .”

Pepper paused as she stared at Peter in astonishment. “Really? You’re interested? Wow, Tony would be so thrilled to hear that! Do you want to intern here? We can arrange that easily.”

“N-not that soon. I still want to know more about this whole program. I know that it was explained to us before b-but maybe I could explore more. . .” Peter rambled, throwing his hands around a little bit wildly. “I-is that possible . .?”

Peter wasn’t exactly lying since he was genuinely interested on that program, but still he felt quite bad because it wasn’t really his exact agenda for coming at the Stark Industries.

“Of course it is!” Pepper excitedly said. “We can always arrange for you to meet some people here who could help you more with this program. Just give me your free time and we’ll set a date.”

“T-thank you, Pep-” Peter paused then he gulped as he gazed up at Pepper. He tried once again. “T-thank you . . . _m-mom_. . .?”

Pepper looked stunned with her mouth hang open. She spoke after a beat. “D-did you just. . .”

“If you don’t like me to call you that,” Peter said hastily. “I-it’s f-fine-”

“No!” Pepper interrupted. “I like it. I’m honoured. I was just surprised and I’m glad that you actually considered me as your second mom. You can always call me mom.” With that, Pepper pulled Peter into a hug as Peter hugged her back.

Pepper smiled. Peter might have not come from her but she grew fond of this child that she treated him like her own. Peter’s not hard to like after all. He’s smart and sweet. And becoming a part of this young superhero’s life is something that Pepper would very much welcome.

“Oh, right!” Pepper remembered something as she pulled away from Peter. “I actually bought these new science puns shirts I saw online. I thought you might like them since I noticed that you always wear one. It’s in the compound and you can have them when you get back there.”

“Oh. . .” Peter looked down suddenly overwhelmed again with Pepper’s kindness and thoughtfulness. He was still not quite used to having this another mother figure around. “It was nice of you to do that. T-thank you, mom.”

Pepper laughed genuinely. “Anything for you, dear.”

“Miss Potts.” Her secretary approached them but stopped at a good distance. “I don’t want to interrupt, but you still have your Washington meeting. You might be late.”

“Right.” Pepper tapped her own forehead. “I almost forgot about that.” She turned to Peter. “Will you be alright alone here? I would love to give you another tour but you know work. . .”

“No, it’s fine really. You go ahead. I’ll be fine on my own.” Peter said.

Pepper nodded. “All right. See you, Pete.” She hugged him again briefly and started to walk away.

Peter watched Pepper as she rode the elevator towards the helipad where the jet was waiting for her. Pepper smiled at Peter as the elevator door closed. He just waved back in response.

 “Hey, Karen,” Peter called out through his earphone.

“Yes, Peter.” His AI answered.

“Tap in to the surveillances of Stark Industries.”

“What are you trying to achieve with this, Peter?” Karen asked.

Peter took a deep breath. “For now, I just want an eye on everything else here because I have no idea whom I was looking for, seriously.”

“I could use the Stark grid satellite for wider range and more in-depth analysis.” Karen said.

“Y-yeah, use that.”

“Connecting with Stark grid satellite,”

Peter started to walk aimlessly for a while. He wandered through the ground floor, acting like he knew where he was going. But then when people started to look at his direction as if he was a lost deer in the woods, he decided to go on a different floor. He joined the group of people who rode the elevator. He was the last one to get on.

“Peter,” Karen’s voice sounded ominous all of a sudden. He frowned at that. “I’ve scanned the whole interior structure of Stark Industries and I’ve detected once again, an amount of RDX compound scattered inside the building, it was the same component that was found on the bombs back in Sam’s basement.”

“WHAT?!”

The people inside the elevator all looked at Peter weirdly. Some cleared their throat uncomfortably.

“Sorry.” Peter muttered.

The door dinged open on third floor. Peter got out of it immediately and walked farther through the corridor, his mind was starting to race.

“W-what, do you mean, how is that possible. How many are there?” Peter said in a low voice not wanting to get the attention of anyone once again.

“Enough bombs that Stark Industries is going down if all bombs were detonated.”

Peter’s breath hitched in his throat as he froze in his place. His heart started beating wildly.

All of a sudden, the building shook and there’s a loud bang somewhere in the distance. The people froze and shouted in surprise. The lights blinked on and off. Alarms started wailing.

 

Pepper Potts tapped the screen of her phone to answer the call from her fiancé. She leaned back on her seat in the jet which went airborne half an hour ago. She signalled her assistant for thumbs up about the documents she just signed to. Her secretary also went back to her seat.

“Tony, you wouldn’t believe this!” Pepper couldn’t contain her enthusiasm in her voice.

“Try me,” Tony answered from the other line. On the other side of the world, Tony Stark was walking through an empty corridor of the UN Headquarters with his sunglass on and an HUD appearing on it. “What happened?”

“Peter just called me a mom!” Pepper tried to hush down her voice. She was grinning from ear to ear. “I mean, he actually considered me to be his mom. I just can’t believe it. Don’t get me wrong, I was thrilled to be his mom and all.”

“Of course you are.” Tony agreed. He paused walking as he smiled. “And I’d say that of all the positions you’ve filled in, I think the mom position suited you the best. Now that we are on the subject, do you think it’s about time to start making small Pepper and make Peter an older brother, what do you think?”

Pepper laughed out loud in response. “Marry me first-”

“I am marrying you.” He continued to walk once more.

“Make it legal and we’ll start talking about making small Pepper, wait don’t you like small Tony?” Pepper smiled playfully.

“We already have Peter, that’s why it would be nice to have a little princess for a change, you know. But of course, it’s not like we can control what we can have. Well, I don’t mind it either way.” He reached a balcony covered in glass window. He leaned on the railing and stared up at the starry sky of Vienna.

Pepper continued to smile at the thought of building their family. A future that was so sweet and Pepper realized in that moment that she’s looking forward to that kind of future, a quiet and simple life maybe, with her own family, with Tony.

“You’ve gone quiet. Don’t you like little princess trailing behind you some time in the future?” Tony said.

“I love it Tony, very much.” Pepper finally answered.

“That’s a deal, miss Potts.” Tony’s lips quirked up in a smile.

Pepper just shook her head in amusement. “We’ll talk about this deal when you came back. Anyhow, is your meeting there in Vienna done?”

“Unfortunately, not . . . yet. We are on a break and we’ll resume afterwards.” Tony sighed wearily.

Pepper frowned at that. “It’s already late there, why was it not yet finished?”

“Ask Ross. He’s deliberately making this meeting annoyingly long. In fact, he’s annoying. He’s an embodiment of annoyance. I don’t like that he’s making me sit across from him beyond my working hours just to endure his annoying presence. Have you noticed how many times I’ve said annoying just to prove my point here?”

Pepper could imagine her fiancé rolling his eyes. She was about to speak when her secretary came to her with a disturbed expression on her face.

“Honey, hold on a sec.” Pepper said. Then she looked up at her assistant. “Yes, Martha.”

“M-miss Potts,” Martha’s voice was shaking a little bit. “I just received a call from New York base.” There was a pause. “There has been an explosion in the site.”

There was another pause from Pepper. Her brain was like in a slow motion of processing what her assistant just said.

“I heard that!” Tony demanded as he stood straighter, more alert.

“What’s the cause of explosion? What’s the situation there? Turn back this jet now!” Pepper demanded. Then she froze when another thought occurred to her. “Oh my god, Peter was in there.”

“Peter’s in Stark Industries?” Tony’s voice rang out, panicked.

Pepper held the phone to her ear. “Yes, he’s interested in our Internship program, that’s why he visited the company earlier.”

“Friday, connect to Karen now. . .” There’s a pause. “He’s using the grid satellite. What on earth is he planning? Fri, pull up the algorithms on Karen’s coding.” Another pause from Tony as several codes projected on Tony’s sunglass. “Huh. Something’s off here. . .”

Pepper just shook her head on Tony’s rambling “What?”

“Let’s talk later. I’m going back-”

Pepper exhaled. “Tony, listen. You can’t just run off every time-”

“-Peter’s in there!”

“I am aware and I am going to handle it.” Pepper said determinedly. “You can’t just shoulder everything, okay? Let me handle it this time. You know what I mean. . .”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Onto some recent news, Spidey has been knighted as an official avenger by his dad and this certain dad is not that very happy because he knew too well that he's putting his kid on a dangerous situation. This breaks my heart on so many levels.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My mind was tired to  
> Think of something creative  
> Thanks gammatheta-
> 
> Gammathetaalpha took most of the syllables alone, but hey, she's the awesome beta who makes the chapter livelier. Thanks!

“The security and safeguard measures of Stark Industries have been overridden.” Karen reported into Peter’s earpiece. “The bombs were timed in intervals to explode. I’ve detected all the locations of the bombs.”

Initially, Peter was confused as to what was going on. The noise and chaos had stunned him. There had been another explosion, which was louder this time. The explosion was closer to his location.

The shrill shriek of the alarms cut off suddenly. The overhead lights shut off, leaving only the ominous red glow of emergency light to illuminate the area.

Scientists with their lab coats askew and business men and women struggling to flee in their dress shoes ran past Peter.

Peter was frozen in place. He knew he should be doing something, maybe saving the people and stopping the remaining planted bombs from exploding like superheroes were supposed to. But his own panic was choking him, turning him into a petrified statue.

Panic. Peter was in panic. His dad had said something about that word.

_“Panic,” Tony paced around the lab. Peter was seated on the table, listening. “That one thing is always our number one enemy when we are on the field. Because villains rarely announce their plans beforehand, meaning things usually blow up in our faces and we don’t know what’s happening. The lack of knowledge of the situation is one of the reasons why we panic. So if you don’t know what’s happening, what should you do first?” He looked at Peter._

_“Uh, assess the situation first?” Peter guessed._

_“Bingo!” Tony snapped his fingers. “When you start to assess what’s happening around you, the panic lessens and your mind will kick into action to do something about what you’ve learned. That’s where priority comes in. When you have necessary information needed, you should know how to act accordingly and what you need to do first. What do you think is always the priority when it comes to a life and death situation? That should be easy for you to answer.”_

_“Civilians.” Peter answered once more, with more certainty this time._

_Tony nodded. “If possible, we avoid collateral damages. People’s lives always come first above everything else.”_

“Priority.” Peter breathed. “Right. Civilians first.”

“Karen,” Peter swallowed. “Estimated time before all bombs explode?”

“In an hour and half, Peter,” Karen answered immediately.

“Okay,” Peter started to walk opposite the direction of the crowd running into. “Power around Stark Industries is still on, right?”

“Yes, but it is running on its emergency backup power. It won’t last long.”

Peter’s lips twisted into a thin line. He was truly running out of time. He entered an empty bathroom and went into one of the cubicles. He pulled out his suit from his backpack and started to change. When he was done, he put on his mask. The Heads Up Display on his mask came to life. “You said that the security measures have been compromised, any chance we can restore that?”

“The mainframe has been locked out by a user. It’s going to be hard to tap in using the Stark Industries’ server to restore the safeguard protocols. However, an outside server could work, as long as we have Stark Industries access clearance.”

“This wouldn’t do.” Peter muttered. He was racking his brain in coming up with a plan. “I can't be in two places at once.” Then an idea hit him. “How can we have Stark Industries access clearance?”

“Stark Industries’ employees mainly used their badge for security clearance. That would do.”

“And I have one.” Peter fished out his own badge from his backpack. He pulled out his badge.

“Scan complete.” Karen’s voice echoed. “Now all we need is an outside server. I can connect the security coding on your badge to grant access to an outside server.”

“Karen, you said there was a user who locked everyone out of the mainframe. We need to know who it is,” Peter ordered, as he put the badge back in the backpack. He dumped the backpack in the corner. “I’ve got a feeling he’s the guy we should be interrogating as to why there are bombs planted all over the place. Call Ned, we need our guy in the chair. He’s going to be our outside server.”

“Understood. It might take a while to find our guy. I’ve got to breach several firewalls.” Karen answered.

“All right, we uh, need to do some multi-tasking. While you’re at it, give me the location of the bombs and the location of the people who needed to be saved first.” With that, Peter went out of the bathroom.

“Sure thing, I’ve also called 911. They should be here any second now.” Karen said.

 

Ned Leeds munched on his Doritos as he resumed building his 5,195 piece Star Wars Millennium Falcon lego set. His parents had been merciful, allowing the delivery of the Lego set despite the fact that he was grounded. With that, he didn’t mind staying in his room for a while. He was in the midst of concentration of putting another lego piece on model when his phone rang.

“Damn.” He muttered. Then he looked down at his phone beside him on the floor. His best friend was calling him. He put down the lego piece and answered the phone.

“Peter! The Star Wars Millennium Falcon just arrived-!“

“Awesome! You’re at home right?” Peter sounded out of breath. “Huh, five down, I’m getting better at this sort of thing . . .”

Ned frowned. “Of course, where would I be? I’m grounded remember?”

“Good-”

“-Good that I am grounded?”

“No! It’s not! –let’s get you out of here, here you go, now get out of here.” There were unidentified noises, voices, and a sudden explosion in the background.

The sound of explosion caught Ned’s attention. His frown deepened. “Peter what’s happening? Where are you? Why am I hearing an explosion? Did you somehow get transported back on World War II?”

 “Not exactly. Anyway, we should be on news any moment by now. I need the guy in the chair! –Web grenade! I got you, you’re safe now –There were bombs in Stark Industries and they just exploded and will continue to explode if I don’t stop it. I need a back up.”

“WHAT? Are you okay?” Ned scrambled to get up from the floor and went for his study table where his laptop was. He sat at the table and opened his laptop. He turned it on.

“Yeah, I’m fine yet –Everyone! Go this way. Go! Move it move it!” There were a sound of heavy metals and debris falling and sounds of people shouting again.

Ned’s laptop glowed to life. He put down his phone on the table and quickly activated his Bluetooth earpiece so he could talk to Peter without holding his phone. “Peter, I’m online, what am I supposed to do?”

“I need you to hack into the Stark Industries-”

Ned cringed.“-this is not making a good profile for applying at SI-YSD program.”

“Yeah, I’ll talk to dad about that later. But right now, I need you to restore the safeguard protocols of Stark Industries. It has been overridden by who knows who. Remember the Emergency Containment Doors. They would help a lot in containing the fire and explosion here but they are not working because of overridden security measures. Restore that! –Hold on tight, Miss.” There was a scream of a girl in the background as Peter continued to speak. “-Don’t be scared, I got you, you’re safe now.”

“Stark Industries firewalls are military grade! It would take a while to hack in, unless I have authorized clearance.” Ned’s fingers started working rapidly on the keys of the laptop.

“Karen’s giving you my access clearance. I’ve got the badge remember?”

“Awesome, give it to me.” Ned as said. The screen on his laptop displayed Stark Industries logo and a log in box. Ned typed Peter Parker as username. A new dialogue box popped out where several codings were also displayed. The words _Security breached_ flashed out in blood red on the screen. Then Ned was inside the Stark Industries server.

“I’m in.” Ned said, his fingers still moving over the keys.

“Yeah good, make it quick.”

 

Spiderman sighed in relief as paramedics and rescuers came on the scene, helping the people evacuate. There were also fire fighters who were putting out the fire in the area. Then he heard another shout. He looked at the source of the voice and saw that a woman was dangling on the broken balcony a few feet away from him. The woman was holding to a bent pole on the balcony, literally hanging for her life. Spiderman immediately swung his way towards her.

The lady’s fingers slipped from their hold on the pole. She released a scream when gravity took over. She tumbled towards the ground. Yet she never reached it. Spiderman caught her, and they swung through the air on his web. They landed safely on the ground where rescuers were waiting for her.

Spiderman was up and swinging through the air before she could even turn around to thank him. He landed on the higher floor. Suddenly, the sound of alarms started blaring again and from the distance, Peter could see a thick cemented door sliding down in place.

“Security measures restored.” Ned’s voice echoed from the other line.

“Nice one, Ned. Thank you.” Spiderman said. Another explosion rang somewhere. The whole area shook. Thankfully, the whole building had a strong integrity. It hadn't collapsed _yet_ from the explosion. Peter looked down from the balcony and saw the people were scrambling to evacuate at the sound of it. He cursed mentally.

“Ned, be on standby.” Peter said.

“Of course.”

“Peter,” Karen called out. “I’ve located our guy.”

“Good, who is he?”

“The user who locked out the mainframe appears to be Mr. William Spencer, director of Stark Industries Youth and Science Development program.” Karen said.

“Why?” That was Peter’s only answer, his voice laced with disbelief. Even though for a short amount of time, Peter had grown fond of Mr. Spencer. He'd seemed like a nice guy. He couldn’t believe that the director was the one behind all of this.

“Where is he?”

“He’s on the eastern wing of the building. It hasn’t been completely affected by the explosion. He seems to be getting away.”

“He is not getting away with this. There were no people trapped around the whole building right?” Peter asked.

“Yes, everyone has been safely evacuated. Congratulations on successfully saving the Stark Industries’ employees, Peter.”

“We’re not done yet. We still have a _lot_ of things to do.” Spiderman started running deeper into the building.

 

Ned was sitting at his table, drumming his fingers on it. He was waiting for the next call from Peter.

“Ned,” Peter called. Ned sat up straight. “Control the shutting down of Emergency containment Doors on the eastern wing, you need to trap someone.”

“Trap someone?” Ned frowned confusedly. “Who?”

“Director Spencer. He’s behind all these explosions in here.”

“What?!”

“Yeah and he’s getting away. He couldn’t get away and I need to buy some time. Pull down all the containment doors at the eastern wing at once. And I will give you a heads up when to open it again so I can enter. I have something to do first. Do it now.”

“Wait, what? What are you going to do?”

But Peter wasn’t responding anymore. Ned just did what Peter had told him to do.

Meanwhile, Director Spencer was jogging down the dimly lit and quiet hallway. He paused when he heard a distant rumbling. His eyes widened when he recognized that sound. He suddenly ran and turned a corner. Not far away from him, the Emergency Containment door was sliding down. He ran faster. But it was too late. The door slid down completely by the time he reached it. He looked around. He was in the Stark Industries Gallery. Unknown to him, someone was also inside of the gallery.

 

“This should be the last one in this area.” Peter muttered standing up. He gazed at the empty and abandoned laboratory. Peter would have admired the cool and advanced equipment there if not for the fact that he still had some problems that he needed to solve. He was about to call Ned when Karen alerted him with an Incoming video call from Tony Stark.

Peter closed his eyes briefly. He had been preparing himself for this.

“You’ve been busy.” Tony’s face appeared on the Heads Up Display on Peter’s mask.

“Y-yeah . . .”

“Get out of there. The swat and FBI are already there. You’ve saved all the people in there. Your job’s done.”

“I-I can’t. The bomber is still here . . .” Peter was not surprised that his dad already knew everything.

“Hence, the FBI. That’s why the authorities are there.” Tony’s face seemed tight and his voice was hard.

“I’ll bring him personally to the FBI.” Peter said.

“Will you now? Why? Is this all because of his grudge against you? I don’t know… maybe something you lied to me about?”

Peter gulped. He was in for it.

“I clearly remember asking you if that’s all there was to know. I asked you. Instead, you _lied_ and locked out my own AI just to hide this from me.” Tony was looking sharply at Peter. Tony narrowed his eyes, as the side of his eyes crinkled. It usually crinkled that way when he was laughing, but Tony was evidently not laughing this time. His expression was one of displeasure and anger.

“I’m sorry. But it’s all about Spiderman and I don’t want to involve anyone with this.”

Tony looked he was about to argue but he just exhaled, releasing some tension from his shoulders. “Just get out of there. We’ll talk about this when I get back.”

Peter swallowed. “I’m so sorry, dad but-”

“Oh now, you are blatantly disobeying me to my virtual face.” Tony shot back.

“I just . . .” Peter paused. “I have to know what I did so wrong to him. I need to know why he had to involve all these people on his grudge against me. I need to know what’s really going on.”

“Peter, our gig is mainly dealing with criminals! That’s why this kind of thing is bound to happen. They will get revenge no matter how wrong they are!” Tony’s voice rose.

“I have to do this. Sorry. End call.”

“You-!” But Tony’s face disappeared on the HUD.

“Karen, where’s Director Spencer?”

“In the Stark Industries Gallery, Peter.”

“Huh, just right above me.” He looked up at the long window attached to the upper wall. There was a containment door there that was probably slid shut “Call, Ned.”

“Peter!” Ned’s voice immediately came in.

“Open the containment door in the gallery near the laboratory on my mark.” Peter raised his hand as web shot from his webshooter and the web stick to the ceiling pulling him up in the air.

“Okay, but where exactly are you going?”

Peter didn’t answer instead, he swung back and forth like a pendulum. On his fourth swing, he went straight for the glass window. The window shattered when Spiderman kicked it with all his might. He came rolling on the ground.

“What’s that noise?” Ned asked.

“That’s just me breaking in, open the door now Ned!”

There was a low rumbling sound. Then the Emergency Containment Door rose. Peter slid on the floor and through the door. It was halfway on opening up when Peter spoke. “Now close it!”

“What? Why?”

“Just close it, do it!”

The door was sliding down on its hinges. The rumbling sound stopped when the door was fully shut.

“How are you going to get out?” Ned asked.

“I’ll just call you back again.”

“All right.” Ned paused. “It’s been a pleasure, Spiderman.”

“Thanks for your help, dude.” Peter said

“No problem. Be careful.”

Peter ended the call.

The gallery was lit by an emergency light above. It was eerily quiet. Spiderman started to walk. He turned to a corner and he almost jumped up to the ceiling in surprise when he collided into Director Spencer.

“Spiderman?” Director Spencer looked like he was so relieved to see Spiderman. “Oh my god, thank goodness. I thought, I would be trapped here forever. You saved me!”

Spiderman looked momentarily confused. “Wait? You’re not running away? You’re the one behind all of these, right?”

Director Spencer also turned confused as Peter. “W-what? W-what did I do?”

“The whole explosion, you’re the one who caused the explosion!”

The older man’s eyes went wide. “N-no, it wasn’t me! I was making sure that no one was still here in this place and got trapped. Then the Emergency Containment doors were sliding one by one and I got trapped instead.”

“Then why did you override the security protocols?”

Instead of answering, Spencer went searching for something in his coat and pants’ pocket. He looked up at Spiderman. “M-my badge, it was missing. I don’t know how, probably it got stolen in the midst of chaos.”

The eyes on Spiderman’s mask narrowed. “How would I know that you’re speaking the truth?”

“Oh, no need for that.” A new voice echoed out all of a sudden.

The latter two turned at the source of the voice. From the shadows, Ms. Caroline Lewis emerged. She was holding an unusual looking small gun. Her hair that was usually up in a bun was falling on her shoulders in waves. Her white long sleeves were un-tucked from her gray pants.

“C-carol, what’s the meaning of this?” Spencer asked.

“The meaning of this? I was the one who planted all the bombs in here.” Carol shrugged. “It was a bit of a work at first, because of all the tight security measures but the fact the bombs couldn’t be easily detected was really helpful. The metal detector scanners couldn’t even detect it.”

“Why did you do all of this?” Spiderman asked.

Carol’s expression turned into steel as she looked sharply at Spiderman. “It’s because of you! Because of that arrogant Tony Stark, because of the two of you, I lost my only family.”

“W-what did we do?”

“Andrew Garrison.” Carol started to walk around as she played with her gun. “Of course, you wouldn’t know him. He was my boyfriend. Andrew had a sister named, Lara. Lara was badly sick and needed a huge amount of money for a heart transplant. Unfortunately, he didn’t have that kind of money. A plumber’s salary wouldn’t reach thousands of dollars. I tried to help, but still it wasn’t enough. Then, and then, because he was out of choices, he decided to go and join the people in those dark places for easy and big money, even though he didn’t want to. He had to save his beloved sister, after all. He met Marc Gargan.” She paused and faced Peter. “Do you remember the Ferry incident? When Gargan’s group were about to purchase a deal of weapons with someone on a ferry? He was there with Gargan but because you and your righteous superheroic deeds, they all got caught by the authorities. Yay! Spiderman and Iron Man saved the day.” She rolled her eyes and her tone fell into sarcasm.

“And because of that, Lara wasn’t able to get the medical treatment she deserved and her heart gave up on her. She wasn’t able to see her brother until her last breath. She was a sweet, sweet girl mind you, but the world was just cruel to her. Andrew was, of course, devastated while in prison. Then, I don’t know how, but he managed to get a hold of a sharp object. The next day, he was found dead, his wrist slit.”

Peter’s heart stuttered. He felt his throat closing in. Why?

“Andrew was a good person, I can guarantee you that.” Carol’s voice was strained, tears welling up in her eyes, yet her voice and expression remained hard. “He never broke a law once in his life, except for that one time, because of his sister. He just wanted to save his sister’s life, that’s all he ever wanted, that’s why he did what he did. He never killed anyone. He was just there for his sister and he ended up in prison. There were people who did worst out there, but are still roaming around free.  They were the people you should be chasing!” She pointed her gun at Spiderman.

“But Carol, this still doesn’t justify for whatever you did in here!” Spencer spoke. “You put in danger all the people in here, if not for Spiderman, there were people who could have gotten killed because of your own hatred.”

“You shut up!” Carol snarled at him, as she pointed  her gun in Spencer’s direction. “Do you think these superhero wanna-be’s-” She pointed again at Spiderman. “- who look like they are starring in some freak show are all so almighty and righteous? I met some group of people who opened my eyes on who these folks really are. Do you think these freaks were really saving us? No, they are not! If they were truly heroes we should admire, then why are some of them war criminals now? Why they couldn’t save the people we love, you, Director, of all people should know what it feels like. The Avengers failed to save your family after all when those alien bastards came charging in here eight years ago.”

Carol must have hit some nerve in Spencer. He froze in place, as if she had pulled out the long buried grief deep within from the older man, sadness like stormy clouds appeared on his face.

“You dedicated all your life in serving the company that that Stark asshole owned and how did he repay you? He was so incompetent that he failed your family. You think they are some sort of heroes we should thank for? The truth is, they are murderers. Look at the damages they have caused across the globe. They aren't saving us.” Carol continued.

“I still believe that they did the best that they could.” Spencer said softly. “If not for them, those aliens could have killed more people.”

“You were blinded by them, wake up-!”

“You should be the one who needed to wake up!” Spencer exclaimed. “Revenge for your pain will never be right!”

Carol’s eyes were wide in rage and mania. She released a strangled shout as she aimed her gun at Spencer and fired.

“NO!” Instinctively, Spiderman leaped and pushed Spencer out of the way.

Instead of a bullet, a violet laser beam shot out from the gun. Spencer skidded on the floor as Spiderman crashed on a nearby architectural model placed on a podium. The podium toppled onto the floor at Spiderman’s impact. The glass covering on the model shattered all over the floor.

Spiderman gasped as his back hit the ground. There was a burning sensation in his stomach. It was so painful that he felt dizzy for a moment.

“Second degree burn and internal bleeding detected.” Karen said.

Spiderman looked down at his stomach. The suit on the stomach part was blackened. Peter thought that if not for his suit, he could have acquired worse than that.

“The bomb sellers said that this thing will kill you,100% guarantee, Spiderman. Maybe I got fooled?” Carol walked towards Spiderman as she tilted her head to the side. “I got this as a free gift from the bulk items I bought from them. I got some help from, let’s just say Anti-Avengers people. Their group doesn’t have a name yet. Anyway, they helped me finance this revenge plan.” She stopped in front of Spiderman. Spiderman propped his elbow to the floor, his other clutching his stomach. He needed to put pressure on the wound. Carol continued. “I couldn’t take revenge on Iron Man personally, that’s why I’ll just take down someone that he spent his life working with.  I would have gone for his son, Peter –he’s a sweet boy by the way, met him once, but his son just showed up recently and I had already spent a month planting bombs everywhere, so I couldn't just stop doing what I had started. The initial plan was to taint Stark’s name with this. Even better if Peter got caught up in this, I saw his son earlier, seemed this was the best time to blow everything up. But of course, Spiderman saved the day again.”

“Yet again, it’s something I don’t mind because you are here in front of me. You seemed pretty easy to catch, that’s why I went for you. Do you know that aside from tainting Stark’s name with this, Stark Industries was also a bait to _lure_ Spidey out? It was a shot of hitting two birds with one stone.” She released a strangled laughed. “And it worked because you seemed to be everywhere nowadays! And now, you are bleeding to death. Any last words, before I take the second shot. I’ll make sure that you’re not going to get away from this.” Carol pointed the gun at Spiderman.

“I-I am sorry . . .” Spiderman winced at the pain coming from his wound. “I am sorry for what happened to Lara and Andrew. I am not saying this to earn sympathy from you, but I also know what it feels like to lose a family because I also lost my own years ago. The loss and pain can be unbearable at times. It weighs you down.” He released a shaky breath. “But on the other note, no matter what reasons behind Andrew’s action were, he still broke the law by being an accomplice with the bad guys, and it’s something that cannot be overlooked. We’re not perfect beings, I admit that, but we still do what we can to help the people out there, and that is better than doing nothing when we have the means and ability to do so.”

Carol’s face remained still, gun still pointing at Spiderman. “If you didn’t exist, Andrew wouldn’t have been caught and he could have saved Lara. We could be happy all together. And now, I’ll make sure that you will stop existing.”

Spiderman swallowed. His mouth was starting to get dry and spots were dancing in front of his eyes. His own blood was starting to seep through the suit and starting to drip on the floor. “Whoever these Anti-avengers people are, they’re manipulating you, and they’re using your pain for their own gain.”

“I just wanted you gone.” Carol’s finger tightened over the trigger. Peter shut his eyes and prepared himself for the pain.

His dad’s last memory of him wouldn't be a good one. Something about that made Peter sad. 

He waited for the blast to come.

It never did. There was a blast. Plaster on the roof crumbled. Peter opened his eyes.

Spencer had his arms wrapped around Carol.  Dust fell on them as cracks in the ceiling widened.

“Let me go!” Carol and Spencer were fighting over the gun. He wrenched it out of her hand and pointed the gun at Carol.

Carol stepped back. “Do you think, that’s all I have, huh?” She produced something out of her pants’ pocket. It was a small remote control.

“There’s another bomb planted in this gallery.” She walked to the nearby table where another plastic robotics model has been laid. She toppled the table as the model scattered to pieces on the floor. Underneath the overturned table, a familiar white plastic box was taped.

“Go ahead, director, shoot me.” Carol taunted, raising the remote control. “All of us are going to be nothing but a pile of ashes here. The bomb was timed to explode a few minutes from now, but I can make it faster for all of us.  All of us are trapped here, with the containment doors shut down, there’s nowhere to run.”

Spencer hesitated as the gun seemed to waver on his hand. “Carol please, don’t do this.”

“Too late for that.” Carol pushed the button.

“No!” Spencer shouted.

Nothing happened.

Carol frowned as she pushed the button once again. She looked at the remote control in her hand. “W-what happened? Why isn’t it working?”

Spiderman lifted his head off the ground. He was smirking under the mask.

“I may or may not have disarmed that bomb earlier when the explosion had just started.” Spiderman said. “Together with all the bombs planted in this area.”

“YOU-!” Carol snarled once more. She was about to charge at Peter when a sudden concentrated shockwave threw Carol away. She crashed to the ground, hitting her head on a pillar. Her eyes rolled shut.

Spiderman sensed a presence behind them. He turned around. Iron Man was standing a few feet away from them. His arm was raised.

“M-mr. Stark!” Spencer exclaimed.

Spiderman frowned, there was something odd about Iron Man’s figure. His suit had more shape and curve, more feminine. . .

“Oh, not Mr. Stark, actually. . .” A female voice came from Iron Man. The suit put down its arm and the helmet retracted.

Both Spiderman and Spencer gasped when Pepper Pott’s face came into view.

“M-miss Potts . . .” Spencer’s mouth was hanging open.

“Yes and please let’s have a an oral non-disclosure agreement among us three that nothing will be revealed about this, the last thing that Stark Industries needed is another CEO donning an Iron suit.” Pepper said. When her eyes landed on Spiderman sprawled on the floor, her eyes widened. “Oh my god, what did that bi- that woman did to you! I saw that she’s about to attack you!” She immediately went to Spiderman.

“I-I am fine, mo-miss Potts . . .” Spiderman tried to sit up, but failed.

Pepper knelt down at Spiderman’s side. “Stay still. Happy should be on his way here. We’re just restoring the power here because everything blacked out. We’re doing things manually.” A hatch opened on the thigh part of the suit. Dozens of gauze pads were in a small compartment attached to the suit. She picked a few and covered Spiderman’s wound and put pressure on it. “Hold it for me, for a sec.” She said, as Spiderman hold the gauzed pad over his wound. She pressed something on her arm armor and a small stick with a vial in it popped on the armor. It was a syringe. Pepper lifted up Spiderman’s mask a little bit, so a small skin on his neck got exposed. She injected the syringe on his neck

“Ow! That stings, what’s that?” Spiderman complained. But the pain in his stomach subsided.

“Hope you’re not afraid of a needle.” Pepper said.

“That actually made me better.” Spiderman piped up. He laid his head back on the ground. He turned his head to Pepper, marvelling her in a suit. “So uh, what should I call you? Iron Woman? Iron Girl? Lady?”

Pepper chuckled, holding the gauze pad on Peter’s stomach. “I don’t know, but I was aiming for a non violent kind.”

“Well, you’re kinda rescuing us, after all.” Spiderman shrugged his shoulders.

“I can’t believe you came charging here on your own.” With that, Pepper’s face turned serious. She briefly glanced at Spencer who walked towards Carol’s unconscious body. She whispered back at Spiderman. “You almost gave your father a heart attack-” Spiderman winced. “-You’ll never hear the end of it from Tony.”

“Yep,” Spiderman cringed again. “Yeah, tell me something, I don’t know yet.”

“Uh, miss Potts? Spiderman?” Spencer called out. “W-what should we do with, Carol?”

Pepper groaned. “She is so fired.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If Iron dad cant save spiderson, Iron mom is there to save the day! LOL and someone was not particularly happy because his son was really going for trouble. ahem.
> 
> I couldn't help it but to write Pepper donning an Iron suit because i was in love with that idea! It was fun to write.
> 
> (EDIT: OH MY GOD I cant believe I forgot the most important thing I have to tell you! I just wanted to tell that Four more chapters to go and we're done on this story. Sorry for springing this up to you so suddenly. I kept on forgetting to tell you that these past updates, my bad. So I'm already giving you the heads up that we're coming to a close)
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, commenting and subscribing!


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pine nuts and spinach!  
> Hi, gammathetaalpha  
> Here's my thanks to you :)

Peter wasn’t aware of what happened after Pepper arrived. He was too tired and weak to process everything that happened afterwards. He woke up the next morning. He looked around and immediately realized that he was in the Medical Bay of the Avengers Facility. He was wearing his usual science pun shirt and sweatpants. Who had changed his clothes? Peter had no idea.  There was a part of him that didn’t want to know because of embarrassment. His Aunt May was sitting on the side of the bed, with her head resting on her folded elbows. She looked like she was asleep.

 He shifted, sitting up. There was a twinge from his chest. Peter lifted up his shirt. White gauze was firmly wrapped around the majority of his stomach.

 Peter felt fine, which was a miracle considering the severity of the wound he had acquired, he should probably be dead.

“Hey, Pete.” May was awake, looking worriedly at Peter, but still slightly disoriented from sleep. She stood up. “Are you okay? Is there somewhere that hurts? Do you need anything?”

Peter dropped the fabric of his shirt. He shook his head. “N-no, it’s fine. I’m good, you don’t have to worry. Seriously.”

“Dr. Helen Cho treated you, and she’s the one who bandaged you up. She said that you’re doing fine because of your enhanced healing capabilities . . .” But May sighed wearily. “You are so going to give me a brain aneurysm. Tony told me everything. What were you thinking, hiding something dangerous like that? You almost got yourself killed!”

“Sorry.” Peter mumbled, looking down.

“I’m just glad you’re safe.” May murmured. She put her hands on her hips. “I’m not the one you need to say sorry to. You’re going to receive a mouthful from Tony. Actually, he’s doing me a favour, scolding you on this one.”

As if on cue, the door opened. Tony Stark entered the med bay. He was wearing long, black sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His blue tie was loose around his neck. He looked so dishevelled and worn out.  Yet he managed to stand firmly, with tight lips directed in Peter’s direction.

“Look, the sneaky spider is awake.” Tony stated. Peter winced at the intensity of his dad’s voice.

May stood up. “I should probably leave you two.”

Peter looked up at May pleadingly. He would give anything for his aunt not to leave him with Tony. He already had a glimpse of how his dad could be terrifying when he's angry. He had seen it first hand when he received a scolding from him after the Ferry incident. May just kissed Peter’s head and slipped away.

The room fell into a stifling silence. Tony stared at Peter with such intensity that the teenager just wanted to turn into a puddle of goo.

“P-please, just say something already.” Peter mumbled. “I know you’re mad at me.”

“You want me to say something?” Tony’s voice was uncharacteristically soft.  “Fine.” He exhaled, putting his hands in his pants pockets. “Kid, I thought we had talked about you telling me things. Why didn’t you do it? I thought I was your mentor on this gig, and since you still have a mentor here, it was your duty to tell me that something was up so we could act on it accordingly. Did something change in our deal? You could have suffered worse than that gash on your stomach. You could have died because of your disobedience and your lies. Yeah, you managed to save the people and disarm the bombs. But here’s the thing, Peter.” Tony’s voice was increasing in volume. He’d stepped closer to Peter’s bed. “Your disobedience, you going behind my back, again and again and again? It’s not going to work all the time!”

The room fell silent. Tony breathed out through his nose. He went to the window and stared at the horizon outside, fingers clenching the windowsill to the point of turning white.  Peter felt like Tony was like one of the bombs he’d disarmed. It was only a matter of time before he exploded. He could see Tony shaking in an effort to stay still. Peter had thought the ferry incident was bad. The hurt, the tension rolling off of Tony in waves made that look like nothing.

“I’m sorry.” Peter mumbled. He knew that it wouldn’t diffuse Tony’s anger.

Tony looked at Peter sharply. Peter winced. “You said that to me last time and look what happened now. How am I supposed to accept that apology? How could that word mean something if you keep doing the same thing after apologising. You do realize how stupid that was, right?”

Peter couldn’t bear to look Tony in the eyes. His own were hot, the makings of tears forming along the bottom. “I don’t want you getting caught up on something, worse, _dying_ because of me.  I can’t take that!”

“Kid, it’s not supposed to be the other way around!” Tony whirled around to face Peter. “I am the goddamn parent here! It is _my_ job to protect you from something worst, _not_ the other way around. I repeat, it’s not the other way around, Peter!”

Peter felt a spark of indignation at that. He tightened his hand around the blanket. “What? I can’t protect my own family too?”

“And look what happened to you!” Tony shouted. His voice rang through the room. “What if Pepper hadn’t come in time? What now? Why do you think I am here mentoring you, huh? Is it because you know everything? No, it’s because you still have a lot of things to learn when it comes to this gig. You think you already know enough? Here’s a news flash for you. You don’t.”

Tony rubbed his face with his hand. He spoke once again, the volume of his voice dropping a notch. “You’re grounded. God, I can’t believe I’m saying this.”

He’d expected as much, hadn’t he? “Until when?” Peter asked, his voice soft.

“Until I say so. I swear if I see so much as a speck of blue and red onesies swinging across Queens, you’re going to say bye bye to Spiderman permanently-”

“Hey! That’s not fair-!”

“Yeah, try me.” Tony shot back. “You’re starting to offshoot from your job. What happened to looking after the little guy? You need to downplay this a little bit.”

With that, Tony walked out the room.

 

 Tony strode through the hallway, pulling the necktie off his neck as he walked. It felt like it was choking him, even though it had been loosened.

“Boss, your blood pressure is-” Friday said.

“I know,” Tony cut in. “You don’t have to tell me about it. I am aware, I can feel it.”

“And boss, Secretary Thaddeus Ross keeps on calling you, but like you asked, I keep holding him on the line.”

“Why can’t I take a break from his face?” Tony shook his head as he turned around another corner. “God, I just saw him twelve hours ago and I have to see his face again. Just let me have a quick shower and change of clothes. I’ll meet him. I feel like I already knew what he wants from me.”

 

“This is a rare opportunity,” Secretary Thaddeus Ross said when Tony Stark entered his office. “Mr. Tony Stark came here personally to my office. Come sit, Mr. Stark.”

Tony was tempted to roll his eyes, but he refrained from doing so, instead sitting on the pristine couch in the middle of Ross’ office.

“Do you drink tea?  I have this fresh green tea straight from China. They are really beneficial, especially for the heart.” Ross tapped his own chest for emphasis. He raised a small ceramic pitcher from the coffee table in front of them.

“Yeah, well,” Tony leaned forward, scratching his goatee. “I’m not really in the mood to drink anything. I’m in quite the hurry, with all due respect, because I have a lot of things to do after this.”

“Ah, right,” Ross’ tone turned sympathetic as he put the pitcher back down on its ceramic toaster. “I saw the news about what happened to Stark Industries. But lucky for you, Spiderman prevented something that could have been a huge disaster for you.”

Tony’s hand twitched, but his expression remained passive. “Yeah, all of us are lucky to have Spiderman in town, aren’t we?”

“That’s why I think-”

“Nuh-uh.” Tony straightened up. He already knew where this was leading. “I already said this before and I am going to repeat this once again. In case you forgot, Spiderman refused my invite to be part of the Avengers. That’s why he can’t sign the Accords. End of the deal. He’s an independent superhero that has nothing to do with this. He just happened to be where the people needed him to be.”

“Didn’t you all start like that?” Ross paced back and forth as he shoved one hand in his pants’ pocket. “Being where the people needed you to be. Look where that’s taken you. Isn’t it more convenient for all of us if you started to put the leash early, to avoid future collateral damages?”

“Spiderman is different.”

“Oh, you seemed to know him a lot, well-acquainted perhaps?”

“You know me, I tend to meet a lot of people along the way.” Tony shrugged. “But it all ended there. I became interested in him so I invited him and he refused me. I can’t force him to join us. He’s got his own M.O anyway.”

“What if he became a threat sometime in the future?”

“He won’t. I got my eyes on him.”

Ross laughed in response. “Some might say you seem protective of him.”

“It’s just in your head.” Tony answered. “I just respected his rights, everyone has that after all.”

Ross stared at Tony for a moment, scrutinizing him. After a beat, he spoke. “All right, Mr. Stark. You already said it, but my interest with Spiderman won’t waver.”

This was one of the many things that Tony was avoiding, Spiderman getting on Ross’ radar. The good thing was, the web-slinger was grounded and Tony was hoping that with a no show from Spiderman for a few days or weeks would dissolve Ross’ interest in him. It was an unlikely shot for Tony, but he was still willing to hope.

“And I believe he will continue to do his solo act and do his thing in his own little area.”

Ross nodded in acknowledgement, but Tony felt like that wasn’t enough of an acknowledgement. It was unlikely for Ross to just accept things as they were, and Tony had to be prepared if his favourite Secretary of State decided to do something behind his back.

“You know, we just saw each other earlier but I failed to ask you about your own little surprise of a family, especially a son showing up of nowhere? How are they?” Ross said conversationally as he sat on the other couch opposite to Tony.

Tony wanted to glare at Ross. There was a surge of protectiveness that rose up in him. The genius billionaire wanted to spit every single threat he could think of to Ross if the man touched a thread of hair on his family. He knew how Ross could play dirty and Tony was willing to play the same game if it came to protecting his family.

“They’re good.” Tony smiled thinly, not even reaching his eyes.

“What’s your son’s name again? Patrick?”

“Peter.” Tony answered.

“He’s in what? High-school?”

“Yeah, he’s a high-schooler.”

“Oh wow, he’s what? Fifteen? Sixteen?”

“Fifteen.”

Ross nodded. “Very young indeed. How’s Miss Potts’ doing?”

“Still Pepper.”

“Well then.” Ross stood up and Tony did the same. He shook hands with Tony. “I wish the best for you and your family, Mr. Stark. They seem like good people.”

“They really are.” Tony said as they continued to shake hands. “And I would do anything to protect them, no matter the cost.” He smiled again at Ross. It was a smile of a warning. He knew his eyes conveyed the truth of what he’d just said.

“Of course you would.” Ross smiled and stared back at Tony. “They’re your family after all.” He let go of Tony’s hand.

Then Tony made his exit in that office, the last place he wanted to be. Leaving was like breathing air for the first time.

 

Peter was standing, facing a wall in his quarters in the Avengers Compound. He was playing with a tennis ball. He threw the ball on the wall and it bounced back towards him. He caught it swiftly. He threw it once again and the ball came back to him. He’d been doing that routine for some time now. It was already night and he hadn’t seen his dad after their argument. He also hadn’t seen any glimpse of his mom either for the whole day. It wasn’t surprising though, after what happened to Stark Industries yesterday. His mom was hella busy. May, after being Peter’s company for the whole day, had had to go home because she had work the next day and it would be more convenient travel for her if she was in their apartment in Queens.

He’d also received tons of text messages from Ned, MJ and some of his close classmates on why he had missed class earlier. His general alibi was that he got a mild cold and he’d be going to school the next day. The burn on his stomach had healed completely anyway. All that remained was a pinkish hue on his skin.

Peter caught the ball once more and paused when he sensed another presence in his room. He turned his head to the side and saw Pepper was standing by the open door of his room. She evidently had come straight from work as she still wore her work attire with her deadly heels. She was holding a black handbag. Nonetheless, she smiled warmly at Peter.

“I would have knocked, but you already saw me.” Pepper said. “Can I come in?”

“O-of course, mom,” Peter immediately put the tennis ball down on his study table.

Pepper walked in and sat at the foot of his bed. She placed the handbag beside her. “So how are you? Seeing that you’re up on your two feet, it seems that you’re fully healed. I’m so sorry, I would have come to you earlier, but things got hectic.”

“I-I am sorry too about what happened to the company.” Peter awkwardly shifted his weight, averting his eyes from the woman sitting in front of him.

“Come here.” Pepper was still smiling as she extended her arm for Peter. Peter sat beside her.

“I never got a chance, but on behalf of Stark Industries, I want to thank you for saving the people there. If it weren’t for you, they could have suffered something worse.” Pepper said gratefully.

“I-it’s fine. I just did what I could. But dad seemed not happy about it. He’s still mad at me, seeing that I haven’t seen him since he grounded me.” Peter looked down.

“Oh, Pete.” Pepper put her arm around Peter’s shoulder. “I think the more appropriate term is _worried_. He’s worried about you. And there were things that he needed to do today that just coincided with after he grounded you. He’ll come around. He can’t resist his only son, after all.” She winked at Peter.

Peter smiled a little bit, but he didn’t feel any better. “I-it’s just that, I don’t want to lose him. Why was me helping out such a big deal? He even threatened to not let me be Spiderman at all.”

“And he’s the same to you, Pete. He can’t afford to lose you too.” Pepper said softly. “You know, there was a time that Tony had to deal with some bomb related event too. Do you still remember when Tony was proclaimed dead because his house in California got blown into bits?”

Peter nodded. He would never forget that day. He’d been devastated after the media announced Tony’s death because of that incident. He refused to believe it anyway, because how could Iron Man just die?

“That bomb related event almost cost him his bestfriend’s life, Happy, and my own life.” Pepper continued.

Peter’s head whipped up to look at her with wide eyes. “W-what?”

“Yeah, I also almost died in that event. Happy almost died. I’m telling you this because I wanted you to understand where he’s coming from and why he became so overprotective of you, to the point of taking away something that has been part of you if it means protecting you. He was just scared that something like that would happen again and he’s doing his best to prevent it from happening again, especially to you, his son.” Pepper explained. There was tenderness in her voice. “He didn’t do what he did to hurt you or just because he was angry. He did that because he cares deeply for you.”

Peter was silent as he looked down. He didn’t know what to say.

“Believe me when I say that Tony knows what he’s doing because he already has had experiences that have taught him what to do on things. He’s been there and done that. You, on the other hand, are just starting. That’s why you have to tell him what’s going on with you, especially this superhero business. He certainly would know what to do if something happens, Pete.”

 

Tony was back, wearily walking through the dimly lit hallway of the Avengers Compound. Tiredness bit at his very bones. He didn’t even remember the last time he’d been able to take a seat without feeling stressed and without his anxiety lurking in the sidelines. Maybe that was two or three days ago?

He stopped in front of Peter’s quarters. He opened the door it quietly. The room was now darkened. There was Peter’s slumbering form on his bed. Nonetheless, Tony still quietly went in. He walked towards his son’s bed. He bent down and pulled up the blanket further, tucking Peter in. Peter didn’t budge. Tony straightened up. He stared at his son’s sleeping form for a moment. Seeing his son peacefully sleeping gave him a renewed energy, as if he could breathe a little bit lighter again knowing that Peter was safe.

Last night had been one of the longest nights for Tony. He had been thousands of miles away, knowing that his son was in danger, again, and facing another villain doing who knows what to his son. The hardest part was just staying still in his seat and listening to Ross blabber on and on about something that Tony wasn’t listening to because his mind was also miles away. He wasn’t kidding if he said out loud during the meeting that he was just a second away from having a heart attack. The feeling was so intense that it hurt and left him dizzy. In that moment, Tony had already accepted the fact that being a parent also means he’s going to be in a constant internal wreck every time something happened to his son.

The only time that he’d felt the shackles loosen up from his chest during those tortured hours was when Pepper’s voice echoed through the earpiece he was wearing, assuring him that Peter was safe.

Tony dispelled the sudden flashback out of his head.  He left the room quietly. He gently shut the door behind.

“Hey,” Pepper smiled at him as he entered their quarters. She was sitting on the couch, holding a Starkpad. After seeing her fiancé, she put down the said gadget. 

“I’ve already secured the relocation site for all the employees for the time being. The renovation should be done in a few weeks time.” Tony sat down beside her. His shoulders sagged.

Pepper nodded in acknowledgement. “I think Peter’s been waiting for you, did you see him?”

“Already asleep when I came in.” Tony answered.

Pepper nodded once again. With soft, warm fingers, she moved Tony’s head, resting it on her shoulder. Tony adjusted his head, and shifted on his seat for a more comfortable position. They didn’t say anything because they didn’t need to. Years of being together already made it so some words weren’t needed. Being in each other’s presence was already enough for them.

“I feel like I was too hard on Peter earlier,” Tony admitted.

“He needs a break from constantly almost breaking his neck every time he wears that suit and you also need a break from constantly on the verge of having a stroke every time he wears that suit. That should work for the two of you.”

Tony just nodded. His eyes started to drift shut. He murmured, “I don’t know what I’d do if I lose this family, Pep.”

“You’re not losing anyone, Tony.” Pepper said softly.

If Tony had heard her answer, Pepper wasn’t sure anymore as Tony’s eyes were already closed and he was breathing deeply. Pepper decided to stay in that position for a while as to not wake up Tony.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always headcanon Dad!Tony as the cool dad but when you stepped out of the line, you are so screwed. I hope I gave justice to that.
> 
> Thanks for reading, commenting and subscribing!
> 
> Three more chapter left.
> 
> Eighteen days before Infinity War.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to gammatethaalpha for the beta-ed chapter. I am quite in a hurry so no haiku for today.
> 
> Enjoy!

“Okay guys, that’s all our drills for today.” MJ announced, closing the thick binder book laid in front of her.

Peter and his decathlon teammates were in the library for some practice drills. They were sitting around a long table with MJ at the head. His teammates stretched their quite sore limbs in their seats, as they had been in that position for a while.

“Mr. Harrison said that I shouldn’t grill you that much today, so off you go to wherever.” MJ added nonchalantly.

“Hey,” Cindy called out. “I’m not grounded anymore, so anyone else up for milkshakes?”

“I’m in.” Sally, a fellow decathlon teammate, immediately said. She started packing her things.

“I feel like our parents conspired on this.” Charles butted in. “I’m also not grounded anymore, so I’m in. Anyone up for some milkshake adventures?” He looked around.

“Yeah sure,” Abraham answered. In the end, all of them agreed for a milkshake except for Peter who was silently putting his things on his backpack.

“Me too,” Ned said then he looked at Peter who was sitting beside him. “How about you-oh, right you can’t . . .”

Of course, his ever loyal best friend had been updated on Peter’s life and his recent grounding.

“Why can’t you, Pete?” Sally inquired. “Come on, join us.”

“I-I have to go straight home. . .” Peter trailed off.

“Aww, it’s been a while since we all hung out together. It’s not like any disaster is going to happen. . .” Charles said.

“Please stop saying disaster.” Cindy deadpanned. “I feel like it’ll jinx us. Anyway, Peter it’s just an hour or two, can you really not go?”

“I’m grounded. That’s why I can’t go.” Peter said a little faster than normal.

Flash snorted in laughter. “Way to go, Parker.”

“Your aunt rarely grounds you. She’s like this hippie and cool aunt.” Abraham said.

“It’s not my aunt actually. M-my dad grounded me.” Peter’s voice was uncharacteristically low. He drummed his fingers on the table.

Silence.

“Holy crap, Tony Stark grounded you.” Charles whispered. “What did you do to warrant a red card from Tony Stark?”

“Getting myself almost killed kinda pissed him off big time.” Peter muttered inaudibly. Then he cleared his throat, standing up. He spoke in a louder voice, slinging his backpack on his shoulder. “Anyway, I have to go, Happy’s waiting for me. Sorry guys, maybe next time.” He exited the library, leaving his decathlon's stunned mouths hanging wide open.

Peter was exiting the main doors when he saw four strangers but very much familiar to Peter standing by the gate. He gulped. They were the paparazzi who’d continuously followed Peter around, side effects of the whole world knowing that he was Tony Stark’s son. Sometimes, Peter would outrun them, sometimes he was cornered and Happy, with his weird, voodoo, paparazzi-sensing powers, had to come rescue him.

“Oh crap.” Peter muttered, turning the other way and walking away hastily. He pulled up the hood of his jacket. He was about to text Happy to just meet him at the other exit when a familiar black car pulled up in front him. The window rolled down.

“Get in.” Happy said. “I just saw some of our folks in the distance. Better to get away from them as soon as possible.”

Peter just sighed in relief, and gladly obliged as he climbed in the car at the back.

“I can’t believe that those paparazzi are still out there for you.” Happy said when they were on the road.

“Well, uh yeah. Anyway, Happy, is dad at the compound . . . ?” Peter leaned forward to the driver seat. Peter still hadn’t seen his dad since the argument yesterday. When he’d woken up that morning for school, Tony was already out doing his own business.

“Yeah, in fact, boss wanted to see you. We’re going to the compound.”

Peter gulped. “I-is he still mad at me?”

“Peter, he’s not mad at you, he’s mad at the actions you took. Just talk it out, have this father-son bonding and all, and everything will be fine.” Happy assured.

The younger Stark slumped in his seat. He pulled out his phone. Notifications on some recent news popped up, including Tony Stark morning press conference, the first one after the whole world learning of his son’s existence, as well as the first after the bombing of Stark Industries.  Peter immediately plugged in an earphone to his phone and attached the ear buds to his ears. He played the video.

Tony Stark stood behind a podium in a gray pinstripe coat and white dress shirt. The camera zoomed in on his face.

A reporter immediately raised his hand and asked a question. “Mr. Stark, are you here to talk about your son and what happened at Stark Industries?”

Tony nodded. “Yes, both. So first of all, Stark Industries will completely make sure to be held responsible for all the damages the bombing had caused to its employees. In the more foreseeable future, we’re going to make sure that nothing like this will happen again.”

Another reporter spoke. “Spiderman seemed to play a vital role in saving the Stark Industries employees, what’s your reaction to that?”

“Well, it’s not surprising. We’re in an age where nothing makes sense anymore-” the crowd in front of him chuckled. “- and there are always new batches of people who are eager and prepared to save the day. Nevertheless, I am glad that someone like Spiderman was there to lend a hand to the people of New York. I’m glad that Spiderman chose to use his ability to help instead of doing something evil. With that, I am truly thankful for him. He’s going to have discounts should he decide to purchase Stark tech at any point in the future.” The reporters chuckled once more.

And Peter couldn’t help the smile that graced his lips.

“Do you think Spiderman will be part of the Avengers?” A new reporter asked.

“To be honest, I offered him a position in the team, but he declined it.” There were gasps of surprise from the reporters.

“Yeah.” Tony gestured his hand, shrugging. “It’s not every day that I get turned down-” Another chuckle from the reporters. “-but anyway, I respected his decision and there’s nothing we could do about that.”

“Can you talk about your son, Peter Parker?” Another reporter spoke up.

“About that, I wanted to take this opportunity to call out every reporters, fake reporters, bloggers, paparazzi and people who want to use _my_ son’s existence for their five seconds of fame. I am going to say this once. Stop harassing my son. Stop waiting for him at every corner and circling him like vultures. He grew up in a very private life and we want to maintain that. If you don’t stop, whoever you are, you and I are going to personally talk, and I assure you that it will not be a pretty talk.”

The collection of reporters furiously jotted down notes, before another one raised her hand.

“How long have you known that you have a son? Did you deliberately hide this information from the rest of the world for a long time?”

“I just found out recently that I have a son that existed, so no, I didn’t hide this from the whole world. We just found out not too long ago that we’re related. And that’s all I want to say about my son, because we don’t like his life being an open book to everyone, like mine was when I was his age. For the time being, he’s very much content to live a quiet and normal life with friends and family. If his mind changes and he wanted to be a celebrity and stepped up on a limelight,” Tony shrugged. “Who am I to step in the way?”

And that’s how the video ended, with a hundred thousand flashes from cameras, as Tony Stark stepped away from the podium. Peter glanced up outside through the car window. He put down his phone. The sky was mostly covered by the towering buildings but definitely, the sky was blue and cloudless. The weather was nice and the pleasantness of the weather seemed to cheer up Peter even more after watching the video.

 

Peter took a deep breath when the glass door towards Tony’s lab came into view. When he reached the door, he observed Tony sitting on the couch in the corner, watching the news. Tony was sipping on a mug that Peter was sure was coffee. His dad’s eyes were trained on the flat screen tv in front of him, reporting on some of the latest news. Peter recognized Ms. Caroline Lewis, in a courtroom for her trial. Moments later, the headline was on the FBI finally catching the bomb dealers Carol had purchased the bombs from.

Peter punched in the codes on the door, and the door slid open. He stepped in, unsure of what to do.

“The couch is pretty long for one person, you can sit here.” Tony said, not even bothering to look at him.

Peter obliged, putting his backpack at the side of the couch. Tony leaned forward to put down the mug on the coffee table. He grabbed the remote and turned off the tv. He was wearing gray dress pants and a white dress shirt partnered with a gray vest. The attire was similar to what he was wearing on the video of press conference Peter had watched earlier. The first two buttons on Tony’s white dress shirt were undone, and the cuff links unfastened.

Peter sat on the couch. He looked up at his dad and immediately blurted out, “Did you mean it?”

Tony frowned, facing his son. “What?”

“What you said about Spiderman in the press conference?”

“That he’s got a discount on Stark techs? Yeah, I meant it.” Tony said, but the genius billionaire knew what his son was talking about. With a smile, he spoke once again. “I meant every single word I said about Spiderman.”

Peter nodded, his heart warming at his dad’s answer. He looked down. “I didn’t mean to make you so worried about last time. I was just so afraid to lose the second opportunity that was given to me, and that was having a dad or parents again.”

Tony rested his elbows on his thighs. “You know, parents being worried about their children is something that’s going to be permanent for us. But you know what’s _not_ permanent? Your life. You losing your own life is something we’re trying to avoid here, something that we could prevent with more proper communication. And it’s starting to tick me off that you’re always going behind my back doing things I told you not to do. I don’t want us to come to a point that I am going to monitor your every move just because your own mouth is not reliable as it seems. Do you want me to be that annoying stalker or paparazzi following you around, watching your every move?” Then he sighed. “I miss the times when you were giving me a moment by moment update about how your patrol or your day went. You stopped doing that.”

Peter was silent. He wanted to say sorry again, but it felt like it wasn’t enough.

“And because that’s our repetitive problem here, we need to fix that.” Tony straightened his legs as he leaned back on the couch. “Tell me what happened to that evil banshee Caroline Lewis. Why did she turn nuclear to the point of reducing my building into ashes?”

Peter frowned at him. “Wait, you still don’t know? Karen records everything I see.”

“I know that, kid. I made that AI.” Tony said. “But I refrained from looking at the footage, even though my tongue was itching to order Friday to show it to me. I want you to practice telling me things honestly and accurately, not leaving out tiny little relevant details, like there’s a bomber after you. Now, what’s her story?”

Peter took a deep breath and settled in a more comfortable position in his seat. Then he launched into the story. He told his dad about Ms. Lewis’ pain and loss. How it lead to her anger and being manipulated by an unknown group of people who had a vendetta against the Avengers. All the while, Tony listened intently, like how he always did when it came to Peter. After Peter finished his story, silence filled the room, though not an uncomfortable one.

Peter decided to break the silence. “Dad, I just don’t understand. We were just trying to help people, why are there people who hate us for helping?”

Tony sighed again. He stared at the dark screen of the tv. “Because of mistakes and failures. Sometimes, the eagerness to help people and to keep them safe leads to certain decisions and those decisions lead to mistakes. Then that mistake will cost people their lives.” His voice grew bitter. “When your mistakes cost someone their lives, it’s crushing, because they were lives that are gone because you weren’t able to save them.”

Somehow, Peter could understand him a little bit. “Is that why you were so angry at me about the Ferry incident?”

Tony looked at him. “Yes, because the burden of failure is something that’s heavy to carry, and you’re still young. I don’t want you to experience that kind of thing. While you are young, I want you to live your life to the fullest. I don’t want you get held up by these hero-ing responsibilities yet. There’s still a long way ahead for you and I don’t want it to be cut short for you.”

As Peter looked at his dad, he could see it in his dad’s eyes, the worn out look and the wistfulness swirling in those brown orbs. He knew without asking that his dad had carried that huge chunk of burden. The thought of Tony carrying that burden alone made his heart twinge. He found his mouth opening. “You’re not a failure to me.”

Peter continued. “Even if the rest of the world said that you’ve failed them, you haven’t failed me. Everyone might not see it, but I do. I know that you’re doing your best, despite all the failures and I think that’s what matters. Never stop getting back up again, dad.”

Tony stared at Peter. He felt like he should be saying something, anything, but there was a foreign feeling bubbling in his chest, clogging up his throat. It was a good feeling. He didn’t say it out loud but, that was what matters to him, his son believing in him. Tony wouldn’t have cared if the rest of the world spit fire on him. As long as his family still had faith in him, it was enough. It was enough to give him the strength to stand up over, over and over again, every time he stumbled and fell to his knees.

“Thank you.” Tony finally managed say. Two words said a trillion times a day in a trillion different  contexts, but words that meant so much more. His lips quirked up in a small smile.

Peter nodded, smiling back.

“But you’re still grounded.” Tony added. “Your sweet talking won’t amend the punishment.”

Peter laughed out loud and Tony joined him in laughter. There was nothing even remotely funny about being grounded. But hey, after going through some stress-inducing events and blowing-up-stuff disasters, a dose of laughter was something they needed.

“I know.” Peter said, when he sobered up.

“Right, and you could use this time to hash out this interest in the internship program. Wait, that wasn’t some alibi, right? You’re really interested on that?” Tony asked.

“Yeah, of course, it’s not that bad to get internship at Stark Industries _for real_.”

Tony nodded. “All right, we’ll make a schedule for that.”

“Uh, dad.” Peter awkwardly scratched at the back of his head. His eyes focused on the floor. “Are you free this Friday?”

“Why?”

“W-we have a PTA meeting at school. If you’re busy, I could just ask Aunt May...”

“I’ll go. Just tell me the time and I’ll be there. I’ll also need to keep track on what you’ve been up to at school.”

“Really, you'll go?"

“Of course, you’re my son and that’s what parents do.  Besides, it’s not every day that I got the opportunity to attend a PTA meeting. . .”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, commenting and subscribing! Love you all!


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's almost ending  
> And gammathetaalpha's  
> Remains awesome, bi***!
> 
> I would have updated last night but ao3 site was down. Anyway, enjoy!

Tony was jogging up the stairs of the Midtown Tech two steps at a time. He thought before that he’d already attended every kind of meeting possible, being who he was, but there’s always a first time for everything and today that first was attending a PTA meeting. A black leather jacket and black jeans had seemed appropriate, in his flashy rich billionaire style. Sunglasses hung to the collar of his t-shirt. He was about to turn around to climb another set of stairs, when he paused. Through the corner of his eye, he’d noticed something.

He turned and studied the massive mural on the wall. There were different people painted on it and one of those people was his father, Howard Stark. He immediately guessed that all those people contributed something in Science and Technology, because that’s what Howard excelled at.

Tony stepped forward, staring up at the painting of his father. A thought had surfaced from the back of his mind; it was a promise he made to himself not too long ago.

_“I am going to be better than you,”_ He whispered the said promise. “ _Better than you were ever to me as a dad.”_

Before his thoughts spiraled into the dark corner of his past he tried to lock away, he turned around, his lips pressed together, and once more resumed climbing the stairs. He walked through the long hall, searching for the room number Peter had given him. Tony tried to blend in with the crowd of students and parents milling around, but it was hard to do so when almost everyone kept on glancing in his direction. He did his best to ignore all the eyes following him like he usually did in a crowd.

Finally, he found the classroom. A woman turned to enter the room at the same time as Tony. Both of them halted at the door to avoid a collision. The bland, polite look turned into red-faced embarrassment when she realized who she’d almost collided with. Meanwhile, Tony just smiled at her and gestured towards the door with his hand. The woman squeaked a thank you, still red as a tomato in the face.

The noise died down instantly when Tony entered. All parents sitting at the desks and even the homeroom teacher, Ms. Warren, looked in Tony’s direction. Most couldn’t conceal their dumbstruck looks, and some became self-conscious seeing _the_ Tony Stark in the flesh.

“Please,” Tony reassured. “Don’t stop whatever you’re doing, I’m just gonna sit over there quietly and subtly as a breeze.”

Most of them chuckled in response and became at ease. Tony walked to the side, towards the back end of the room. He chose to sit beside a man. Tony pulled back the chair and sat down.

Minutes passed. People cast Tony furtive looks. There was an abnormal amount of whispering happening in a room full of adults.

The bearded man next to him kept on opening his mouth to speak, before shutting it again. He finally gained the courage to talk.

 “Man, I just saw your latest Iron Man suit on tv while you were in South Korea, it was so incredible, like it just came out of nowhere and voila you’re wearing a suit.”

What would Tony do without compliments to boost his ego?

“It’s because of some nanotech that I am not going to disclose because of confidentiality.” Tony shrugged. “But thank you, I always aim for exceptional results.”

Ms. Warren cleared her throat, walking towards the front of the classroom. “All right, since everyone seems to be here, let’s start the PTA meeting . . .”

 

“Mr. Stark, Peter is an exceptional kid,” Ms. Warren told Tony, as the two headed out of the classroom after the PTA meeting. “He’s taking advanced classes and if he wanted to, he could graduate early and proceed to any college of his choice.”

Tony nodded proudly in acknowledgement. They stopped by the door at the hallway.

“And I’m glad that Peter is taking extracurricular activities again.” Ms. Warren added. “He quitted almost all of them months ago. But now he’s rejoined robotics. He gets into trouble sometimes but they’re teenagers. That’s what they mostly do.”

“I can attest to that.” Tony said.

Ms. Warren laughed. “Well yeah, but Peter’s behaviour is at its best most of the time. So there’s nothing to be worried about. If he keeps up that kind of attitude, we’ll have no problem here.”

Tony nodded once more. “Thank you so much. Ms. Warren.” He shook hands with the teacher. Then Ms. Warren went inside the classroom to entertain other parents.

Tony was about to turn around, when he saw Ned approaching, alone. The kid briefly froze upon seeing Tony.

“Where’s your best buddy, Teddy?”  Tony said lightly, as he approached Ned.

“P-peter’s at the robotics lab, just checking a few thing but he should be done soon. I was about to go to him. Do you want to come with me?” Ned asked.

“Yeah, sure no problem.” Tony said. The two started down the hall, side by side. Kids gaped at Ned and Tony. Ned was trying to play it off cool, but the boy’s face was beet red.

“I’m sorry about what happened to Stark Industries.” Ned awkwardly said.

Tony shrugged. “The building can be rebuilt. Hopefully no one tears it down again.”

“I’m not going to jail, right?” Ned blurted out.

Tony paused. He looked down confusedly at the kid, who’s beet red face had turned pale. Ned seemed terrified all of a sudden. “What-Oh! Right, you’re the ninja hacker who slipped into my server without breaking a sweat.”

Ned just stared wide eyed at Tony.

Tony sighed as he put his arm around Ned’s shoulder, petting it comfortingly. They started to walk again. “Kid, honestly, I admire your skills. You could work anywhere you like because of that. It’s also a wakeup call to me to upgrade the SI system _again_. Just to get it off your chest, you’re not going to jail. Just don’t plan a world invasion and you’ll be fine.” He put down his arm from Ned’s shoulder as they continued to walk through the hallway.

Ned visibly sighed in relief. “T-thank you, Mr. Stark.”

“Call me Tony.” Tony casually threw in as he looked ahead.

The teenager looked up once again disbelievingly at Tony. “Y-yeah, sure Tony.”

“Also, I’m sorry about Peter. I didn’t know what he was planning that time at Stark Industries. He could have suffered worse . . .” Ned trailed off.

Tony gave Ned a side glance. The kid was looking down at the floor. The genius billionaire spoke. “Peter trusted you the most. You know who he is, what he does. Just be there for him and look out for him from time to time. He’s always proudly telling me that you’re the guy in the chair. I wasn’t quite sure what he meant by that at first, but I understand it now. You’re a team. You have each other’s backs.”

Ned smiled up at him. They turned the corner and paused. From a distance, there was the sound of cruel laughter. Students had parted, laughing at a boy. His back was hunched and he was staring at the floor as he walked.

“Oh man, that’s not good.” Ned muttered. He recognized the students in the distance. One of the students who was laughing was Flash and the rest were his gang.

Peter suddenly appeared from around a corner and walked towards the boy. He plucked something off of the boy’s back. A white paper. Peter crumpled the paper into a ball. The boy looked up at him confusedly. Peter just smiled. His mouth moved, and he pointed in the opposite direction. The boy jogged in the direction where Peter had pointed. The students who were laughing earlier were now glaring at Peter. They stepped forward, into Peter’s personal space. Peter took a step backwards.

Tony immediately knew where this was leading. His lips turned down in an angry frown. He shouted, “Hey!”

All the students up ahead froze and looked at Tony.

“Is there something going on here?” Tony called. Most of the students backed away and ran off, seeing Tony approaching them.

“Dad!” Peter squeaked.

Tony ignored Peter. He turned to the boy who’d been left behind when the students had fled.

“What’s your name, kid?” Tony asked.

“F-flash Thompson, s-sir.”

“A.K.A The Bully.” Tony said.

“S-sir-“

“Kid,” Tony put his arm around Flash’s shoulder and gripped his shoulder. They started to walk leaving Ned and Peter behind. The two teenagers exchanged bewildered glances.

“You know,” Tony started to speak as Flash tried not to squirm from Tony’s arm on his shoulder. “It’s not yet too late to turn the ship around and discover new paths of enlightenment. How do you see your future?” He looked down at Flash.

Flash looked like he wanted to sink on the ground. “Uh, b-bright?”

“Yeah, and it’s not going to be that bright if you continued this kind of charade.” Tony stepped away from Flash. “Instead of terrorizing students, which does not make you cool, put that energy into colleges and universities. You’re a smart kid. That’s why you’re here. Don’t waste it, alright?”

Flash nodded immediately.

“If you don’t stop being a bully, the second time we meet again, it’s gonna be in the Principal’s office and I’m sure as hell that you’re not gonna like that. Now go.”

Flash scurried away, stumbling through the hallway as he tried to get away as fast as possible.

“What did you tell him?” Peter jogged at his dad. Ned was trailing behind.

Tony turned to his son. “Nothing, just shed some light on the path he could choose.”

Peter frowned. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but Tony decided to change the subject.

“Come on, I’m craving ice cream. Who wants ice cream?”

Soon the three of them were walking out of the school and to Tony’s car.

 

 

Weeks later, Peter and Ned were standing in front of a newly rebuilt Stark Industries building. They pinned their badges to their chests and did their trademark handshake. Then they went in. It was their first day of interning at Stark Industries.

“Good afternoon to you, Mr. Parker, Mr. Leeds.” Director Spencer greeted them at the entrance of a laboratory. “I’m glad that you could officially join us. Come, come. I believe that you’re going to have lots of fun here. This is the equivalent of a playground for smart folks.” He ushered the two inside.

“I’m going to introduce you two to your co-intern. He’ll be your guide here and explain how everything works here.” The director and the two teenagers stopped at the corner.

Director Spencer turned around, eyes searching the big laboratory. “Where is that kid? He should be here. Oh, here he comes, Keener! Get in here immediately.”

 “Sup, boss,” Another teenage boy who has a tall and lanky build was waltzing in towards them. He looked like the same age as Peter and Ned. His hands were shoved on the lab coat he’s wearing.

“I told you to come and meet me here because of the new interns.” Director Spencer told the tall teenage boy.

“Yeah, I was about to but I had to check the conductors first to make sure they don’t explode of overcharging.” Keener said. “I’m staying true to my words to reduce the amount of things that explode when I touch them.”

“As if Keener!” Another teenage intern shouted behind him and from the distance. Keener just put his hand behind his back and raised his middle finger as a response.

“I know what you did behind your back, brat.” Director Spencer said as Keener looked back at him innocently putting down his hand. “I’ve known you long enough to know what you just did. That type of language is strictly against Stark Industries policy. We don’t tolerate it. Be a role model for our new interns.” Then he turned to Peter and Ned, who’s amusement had grown at the scene laid out in front of them. “I swear sometimes when I come down here I feel like I’ve aged ten years.”

“Oh, but you certainly love us.” Keener piped in.

“Anyway,” Director Spencer said. “Peter and Ned, this is Harley Keener, your co-intern here.”

“Hi” Peter waved a little and Ned smiled back.

“Yep, finally we met. I heard so much about you from Tony.” Harley said.

“T-tony?” Ned stuttered.

“Now, start introducing them with our basics.” Director Spencer interrupted. “And I swear Harley; they’re your responsibilities now and if something happens, I’m going to hold you responsible. Remember, be a role model to them. You hear me?”

“Aye, aye, director.” Harley assured, sloppily saluting.

“Now off you go.” The director ordered. The three started to walk deeper in the lab.

“S-so you know my d-dad?” Peter asked

Harley briefly regarded him. “Somehow, I could see the resemblance. I admit that I was shocked to know that you two are related. I’m also quite pissed at Tony for not letting us meet immediately.” They turned to a corner, towards a narrow hallway.

“H-how did you know my dad?” Peter asked again.

They stopped in front of a door. Harley smirked. “Don’t you know? I’m your brother.” He turned and tapped his badge on the small screen attached next to the door. The door slid open.

“What?!”

Instead, Harley just went in and the two followed him. The lights automatically turned on. Inside, there were rows and rows of shelves with stacks of white lab coats neatly folded in it.

“Pick your sizes.” Harley said leaning his side on one shelf. “Smallest to biggest size from left to right,”

But Peter and Ned didn’t move. Peter spoke. It kind of freaked Peter out that there was a possibility of a brother that he didn’t know existing. “I don’t understand. Are we related too?”

Harley laughed out loud. “Chill, we’re not related biologically but you can consider me as a brother.”

“I still don’t understand. How did you meet dad?”

“It’s a long story of some years ago. I saved Tony’s ass once, since then we’re truly connected.”

Peter and Ned stared at Harley.

“What? You don’t believe me?” Harley asked. He straightened up and fished out his phone in his jeans pocket. It was a Starkphone similar to what Peter had. Harley tapped on the screen. Then he waited.

Seconds after, a familiar voice spoke. “What?”

“Your son doesn’t believe me that we had a connection.” Harley stated. Then he turned his phone’s screen towards Peter. Tony’s face was on the screen. He seemed to be wearing formal attire since the necktie and coat was also peeking out on the screen. Tony was sitting somewhere and there were voices in the background.

“D-dad!”

“Hi! I see you’re finally starting your internship, congratulations! By the way, that’s Harley, figured you’d already know that. But he’s a friend, he can be like your sibling and he’s totally harmless-”

“-Yep, we’ll start the initiation rights for new interns in a moment.” Harley snickered.

Tony rolled his eyes, apparently having heard him. “You’ll get along just fine, Pete. Don’t worry. You know what, we should schedule a day for some get together-”

“-And I’ve been suggesting that for centuries!” Harley exclaimed.

Another eye roll from Tony. “Yeah, but you still have your issue on polarization in the lab that you always turn into combustion. That needs to be resolved first. How’s that going?”

“Already done. Do you want a full report on it?” Harley asked.

Tony just sighed. “All right. Let’s set up a barbecue party-”

“Yes!” Harley exclaimed.

“-and take this time as a getting to know each other. But since you’re together at the lab, you should get that part done easily.”

_“Mr. Stark, the meeting is about to start . . .”_ A female voice murmured, somewhere in the background.

Tony looked away from the screen for a moment. “Yeah, half a mo, dear.” Then he looked down at the screen. “Guess, I have to go, Petey and Ned, congratulations again on the internship. I know you’re going to do well. See you all in a bit. _Ciao._ ” The screen went blank.

“Told you.” Harley pocketed his phone. “Anyway, choose your lab coats quickly, Ms. Rose is gonna kill us if she doesn’t see our faces really soon.”

 

Because Peter was doing well in everything nowadays, his grounding was being lifted by his dad. Tony casually announced that one weekend while they were having breakfast. Peter choked on his orange juice upon hearing the good news while Pepper gave him a congratulatory smile. There were some rules though. Peter was not allowed to do configuration on any AI in the house and he always had to tell Tony about how his patrols went at least twice a week.

And so, Spiderman energetically swung by in between buildings of Queens. He yelled, his voice echoing around. “I’M BACK!! Your friendly neighbourhood Spiderman is back, how you doin’ guys?”

Peter would be lying if he didn’t admit how much he’d missed his alternate ego and his patrols. He missed swinging in between buildings, with the feel of adrenaline pulsating in his veins. He missed the action of chasing people that were up to no good. Above all, he missed the feeling of able to help and doing something very worthwhile with his time.

And for his first mission right after his restoration as Spiderman was stopping a cab from careening through the sidewalks and crashing into several cars ahead because of broken brakes. Spiderman swung over the cab, getting as fast as he can to get ahead of it. He twisted around and dropped on the ground, just in time to see that the cab was on him. He held the hood with all his might. Two hand shaped dents carved their way into the yellow hood. His feet slid across the pavement. The friction burned. The cab stopped a foot away from the sidewalk, where several people had been about to cross over. They were all frozen in shock.

Spiderman looked over at the windshield, on the driver and a passenger who had stunned looks on their faces. The eyes on his mask narrowed. “You alright in there?”

The driver and the passenger just nodded, still dumbfounded. Spiderman turned around to the people at the pedestrian. “You good, guys?”

The wide eyed group let out mute nods.

“Alright, jobs done. Mr. Driver, please always do a maintenance check before going out on the road. Have a safe and beautiful day everyone!” Spiderman raised his arm and let his web take him off the ground and up in the air. Cheers suddenly broke out from below.

Spiderman found himself crawling on the tarnished railing of a warehouse overlooking a group of people on the ground. They were in a circle and seemed to be in deep conversation, not noticing their new companion.

“Karen, are these the folks on the NYPD’s wanted list, the ones they’ve been searching for a while now?” Spiderman asked, his feet sticking to the thin railing while crouching over.

“Yes, Peter. All of them are on the NYPD’s wanted list.”

“All right, let’s help the NYPD get their job done easily.” Spiderman was about to leap in action when Karen alerted him with an incoming call.

“Incoming call from a block number.” Karen’s voice echoed.

“Who-”

“Hi, Mr. Parker.” A young male voice said.

Spiderman almost fell from the railing.

“Who is-”

“It’s Harley, man.”

“Harley who-?”

“Dude, Harley Keener, your brother, co-intern, rang any bell to you?”

“Oh right! What’s up man? Why your numbers blocked?” Spiderman plopped on his butt to sit on the railing instead whilst observing the criminals down below.

“I’m using the Stark Industries server to get through to you easily.” Harley said on the other line. He was sitting at a lab table and was leaning to it. He has an earpiece attached to one ear. “Anyways, remember the experiment we started the other day, the semiconductors using nanocrystals?”

“Oh yeah, what happened, did it work?” Peter asked.

“Yeah, but we still have to test it to see if it will work with high power electricity, but I bet ten bucks that it will. I’m more interested on how to break and reassemble the molecular structure of this. Get your ass in here. If things started exploding in here, I’m not the only who’s going to be blamed.”

“Right,” Peter sighed. Then he frowned when the criminals started to disperse. “I’ll be there in a moment. Uh, I have to go, there’s something I needed to do first.”

“What, let me guess, busting up some criminals? I heard that you’d been granted a parole, congrats.”

That made Spiderman falter. “Wha-”

Harley rolled his eyes but he glanced left and right to make sure no one was around. “With some snooping here and there, I found out your connection with Spiderman. Finish up your business so you can get here and then we can go to the much awaited barbecue party later.” Harley ended the call.

“Seriously.” That’s all Spiderman had managed to say before swinging down towards the criminals and webbing them up.

Of course, with criminals around, a fight broke out between the criminals and Spiderman. It was something that he’d expected anyway. Someone had managed to hit him in the head with a steel pole. He turned around and twisted the pole that the thug was holding and the pole hit back the thug in the face. The thug staggered backward and landed on the floor. Spiderman webbed him on the floor.

Spiderman looked up to see the remaining thugs were armed with several weapons and on a fighting stance against him.

“You guys are really unfair, this fight is like an eight to one ratio. Come on.” Spiderman complained.

“How about an eight to two ratio?” A figure in black suddenly came out of nowhere and starting busting up the criminals. The figure in black was like a whirlwind kicking and bashing them. By the time the mysterious person in black was done; half of them were already on the floor. That person turned to Spiderman and gave him a familiar smirk. “Oh, wait, how about a four to two ratio?”

“Holy shit! B-black Widow-!” Spiderman was thunderstruck.

“Seems the fight is fair now.” Black Widow added, tilting her head.

Another criminal dared to charge at them, but Spiderman quickly took care of it, webbing up the thug’s legs. The young hero used the webbing to propel him towards the criminal and made a wide arc with his foot, knocking the thug down to the floor. He did the same to the other criminal nearby and webbed his arm on the floor. “Stay down, buddy.”

Spiderman flipped up to stand and raised his both arm. A web shot out, hitting the two remaining criminals. He pulled the string of web attached to the criminals and the latter two’s heads banged against each other, strong enough to leave them unconscious. He webbed them once again on the floor for good measure.

“That was some moves.” Black Widow complimented, walking regally towards him.

“Yeah, the cops should be here any minute by now. We should be done here.”

“How about I asked you for a walk?” Black Widow invited.

“Y-yeah sure,” Spiderman and Black Widow walked side by side as they headed out of the warehouse, the criminals groaning on the floor. A siren from police cars could be heard from a distance.

Spiderman tried to initiate conversation. “You know, I would have totally recognized you, if not for your blond hair.” He swung up and landed on the first landing of an apartment building’s fire escape. They reached an empty alleyway.

Natasha looked up at Spiderman with an amused look on her face.

“The last time I saw you, you were still a redhead.” Spiderman added.

“Yeah, that was in the Leipzig airport.” She shook her head disbelievingly. “That seems like such a long time ago.” Natasha shrugged. Then she gracefully leaped into the air. Her hands wrapped around the metal bar. She swung around, flipped, and landed next to Peter. She leaned back on the railing, almost half-sitting on it. She crossed her arms, looking at him. “And the last time, I saw you, you were just Tony’s protégé and now, you’re his son.”

Spiderman released a groan. “What did I do to the universe to deserve this? Everyone keeps on knowing who I am. It kind of defeats the purpose of the mask. I might as well pull off my mask and introduce myself to the whole freaking world.”

Natasha laughed out loud. “Oh no, don’t ever do what your father did. Or else loads of criminals seeking revenge will go after your ass.”

Spiderman sighed. “Figured it would be.” He on the other hand, leaned forward on the railing, adjacent to Natasha. He rested his arms on the railing. He looked far ahead. The sun was setting down on the horizon, casting a red and yellow glow over the city.

“Thanks for earlier.” Spiderman gave the spy a glance.

“No problem, that’s the least thing I could do for Tony’s son.” Natasha shrugged.

“So, why are you here?” He winced. That kind of sounded rude. “Not that I don’t like you here, I’m thrilled that you’re here of course.” He shut his mouth before he could ramble any more.

She just smiled. “Well, I thought that I would drop by and see this new young hero who’s making a name for himself.”

“I don’t do what I do to get famous, you know.”

“I know.” She saids. “And it became more meaningful that way. You started out with a pure intention and I’m putting my faith in you that it will stay that way in the long run. You’ve got a great mentor, after all.”

Peter’s lips tugged up in a thankful smile. The Black Widow had just complimented his dad.

“And if you’re going to stay in this lane for who knows how long, you’re aware that you’re going to encounter some fights that are going to be hugely unfair, and all you’re going to have on your side are your skills and guts,” Natasha continued.

“Yeah, kind of still brushing off the skills part . . .” Peter trailed off.

Natasha chuckled as she straightened up. She also faced the horizon. She stared at it wistfully. “I miss the times when Cap and I were beating the new recruits into shape. A lot of things have changed since then.”

Peter studied the ex-spy with a new set of eyes. Now, he didn’t just see a confident hero, but a worn-out woman weathered and toughened by the changes she’d experienced. He wondered what kind of change he’d been about to experience while on this superhero-ing. Will that change make him better? Or will that change will make him see what the other older Avengers had witnessed throughout their lifetimes, that you can also see through their eyes the melancholy of their experiences. Like with his dad and now, with Natasha.

Spiderman straightened too. “You know, I’ve been meaning to ask this, but can I call you Nat?”

That made Natasha laugh once again. “Yeah, why not?”

“Yes!” Spiderman raised his fist in the air. “Nickname basis with the Black Widow! I’m really fulfilling my life goals. This is awesome!”

Natasha continued to laugh. “Anyway, I’m keeping you out too long. I should get going because I believe someone’s waiting for you, right?”

“Oh shit, Harley is so going to be pissed.” Spiderman muttered. Then in much louder voice, he spoke again. “And you’re still a spy, through and through.”

“Because that’s who I am.” Natasha swung her one leg over the railing. “Maybe some other time we see each other again, maybe I can give you some five-minute combat training.”

Spiderman gasped. “I would love that! Black Widow is going to coach me.”

Natasha just shook her head in amusement. “Until next time, Spidey,” Then she let herself fall off the railing, through the night air. Spiderman gasped and leaned forward to look down from the railing. The Black Widow was gone.

“Wicked!” Spiderman muttered in awe.

 

Later that night, Harley, Peter and Ned were walking through the lawn pathway towards the Avengers compound, with Happy trailing behind them. They could already hear some party music echoing from the distance. It increased the grins on their faces.

They headed straight to the rooftop. When they reached the rooftop, a disco light hanging on a post, some pop music and the smell of barbecue greeted them. Tony and Rhodes were in the corner and behind the grill. Pepper and May were also in the same corner, arranging the other foods and putting some refreshments in the cooler box. There was a long couch on the side and two tables were set up in the middle.

“Oh, here they are.” Tony said and the rest of them looked at the direction of the new comers.

“This is awesome!” Harley exclaimed.

“You guys asked for the party, I’m just bringing the party to you.” Tony took a big bite out of a stick of barbecued pork.

“You know Tones, before we finish grilling, the barbecue’s going to be gone. Stop inhaling them.” Rhodes demanded.

“I’m not inhaling them, I’m chewing them, come on,” Tony retorted back.

The teenagers went eagerly to the tray of already grilled barbecue. Harley was about to reach for a stick.

“Nah-ah!” Tony swatted Harley’s hand away. “Not allowed to get one until every single barbecue is grilled. Just get some of the food over there.”

“But you’re eating one!” Peter complained.

“Because, I’m the CEO of the party, I’ve got the privilege.”

“Really,” Harley muttered and the trio went to Pepper and May for some drinks instead.

As the night progressed, Tony looked around. Pepper and May were sitting on the couch talking, while holding a stick of barbecue and cups of drinks. Happy and Rhodes were sitting at one table also talking and laughing, while the three kids were sitting at the remaining table.

“What the hell, Harley! Why would you do that?” Peter suddenly stood up and who seemed blushing in bright red. He snatched up his phone away from Harley. Meanwhile, Ned and Harley were clutching their stomachs, dying with laughter. The older people paused on what they’re doing and looked at the teenagers with interest.

“What? I bet you’re going to be forty and you’ll never be able to ask this MJ chick for a date.” Harley defended in between of laughter. “Going out to watch in the theatres wouldn’t do any harm!”

“Oh my god!” May exclaimed. “Really, Pete? It’s MJ, she’s really pretty and smart. Way to go, Petey!”

“Hold on,” Tony sauntered towards their table, holding a glass of wine. “I thought her name was Liz, what happened to Liz?”

Peter groaned. His face was bright red with embarrassment. But he answered his dad anyway. “Liz already moved to Oregon, dad.”

“Oh, so it’s a new one, huh.” Tony teased. The rest of them laughed in response.

“Oh my god, MJ is just a friend-”

“Yeah, keep telling that to yourself, Pete. No one’s going to believe you.” Ned added.

“This MJ we’re talking about,” Tony continued. “Is the girl carrying a weird big book and the one that Peter’s kept glancing on? Don’t think I didn’t notice that, Underoos when I went to your school once for that PTA meeting.”

Ned snapped his fingers. “She’s the girl.”

“Knew it.” Tony said.

“I hate this party already.” Peter muttered as laughter echoed out once more.

 And as Tony sipped on his glass of wine, he decided that it was one of the best parties he’d ever organized.

 

The next morning, everyone in Avengers compound almost got woken up by the sound of yelling in the kitchen. Peter and Harley glaring at each other greeted Tony when he went to the kitchen, still in pj’s. And to Tony’s rising headache, he just discovered that they were fighting over the last drop of orange juice in the carton.

“Oh come on!” Tony threw his hands up in the air. “We’re allowed to go to the grocery to buy another carton of orange juice. No need to slit each other throats for this!”

Tony never imagined that he would be dealing with kids any time soon, but somehow, Tony was getting used to this kind of scene. He made a mental note to buy cartons of orange juice when the two were in the same room, because he has kids with the ability to siphon orange juice in blink of an eye. He wasn’t exaggerating on that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Them: Have you watched infinty war?  
> Me: i'm sorry, what's that?
> 
> i'm just gonna stay inside of my happy little bubble. The last MCU movie was Black Panther, that's it. For those people who haven't watch it and will watch it, all i can say is good luck!
> 
> By the way, the next update will be the finale, so stay tuned! Thank you so much for reading, commenting and giving kudos as always.


	21. Finale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are at the end  
> With Gammathetaalpha  
> This is it -oh wait!
> 
> Apollo would be so fucking proud of me. He's rubbing too much on me and i dont know whether to be be happy or pissed. And wth i am talking about this was like walking into a wrong fandom door. LOL
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

Tony and Peter dropped Harley off at Stark Industries’ private air base. Harley was going back to Tennessee to spend the holidays with his family, but he would be back in New York after New Year because of his internship, and because he’d graduated high school early, his college classes. Tony and Peter watched as the Stark jet achieved lift on the runway with Harley in it and disappeared behind the clouds.

They were walking back towards the car when Tony spoke. “You know, I was thinking if you would like, we could spend the holidays at my house. Of course, May is very much welcome to stay with us. Maybe we can finally do that Venice vacation.”

Peter paused, looking up at his dad. The idea that he’ll be able to go on a vacation out of the country, and not for some Avengers purposes, was kind of mind boggling. It was even more so when he realized he would be spending it with his new found family. However, another fact blew Peter away. “Wait, you have a house?”

Tony gave him a weird look. “Of course, where do you think I live?”

“I guess I just assumed that you lived in Avengers compound because you’re always there. . .” Peter trailed off.

Tony sighed. “I was just there because you’re here and I have to keep an eye on you and it was more convenient travel for business purposes. Then a lot of things happened. I’ve got to admit. I almost forgot that I still have a house. . .”

Peter chuckled.

“So is that a yes or a no or undecided . . .”

“Yes!” Peter couldn’t contain the excitement in his voice. “Definitely a yes.”

Tony laughed. He put his arm around Peter’s shoulder. They resumed walking towards the car.

Time had flown by. Peter was kind of wondering how the time could fly that fast, when one moment he’d known Tony Stark as just a father figure and now he was actually his father and not just someone he really looked up to. His own family had gotten an extension and they were all going to spend Christmas together. Peter was very much looking forward to that. He knew it was going to be one of the best Christmases ever.

 

“We remodelled everything in your room to suit your taste.” Tony informed as he and Peter walked through the hallway of the Stark Mansion one morning. Sunlight filtered through floor to ceiling bay windows. The house was peaceful and quiet.

Peter trailed behind his dad. He fidgeted with the straps of his backpacks. He felt unprepared, but Tony had said not to bring too much because Peter already had a stock of clothes in his closet, in his room. Tony continued to speak, giving his son a glance and as he gestured his hand in the air, a little bit nervous. Honestly, Tony had spent weeks on the remodelling because he’d wanted his son to feel comfortable the instant he stepped into the house, like it was a place that Peter could always go back and stay in whenever he wanted to. “Of course, we’re still open for some changes, in case there’s something you don’t like in there.”

Then both of them stopped in front of a door. Tony twisted the knob and pushed the door open. Peter stepped in and looked around. His eyes widened in awe at the grandness of his own bedroom. He thought that his own quarters at the Avengers compound were big enough, but now that was seemed nothing compared to this. It was spacious, with a queen sized bed pushed up by the wall on the side. There was a shelf of Star Wars figurines in one corner. Peter could imagine Ned’s reaction to that. He’d actually start drooling. In an almost dreamlike trance, he walked over to examine them. Some of those figurines were limited edition. How his dad had acquired them was beyond Peter. There were also some Star Wars posters plastered on the walls. Another shelf containing rows of expensive science reference books was beside his study table.

The room was new to Peter, but oddly enough, it already felt like home. To add to Peter’s delight, he saw his own robot beeping and moving towards him.

“Buddy! You’re here too!” Peter knelt down and hugged the three foot cylinder robot.

“Yeah, of course, we can’t just leave him in the compound, can we?” Tony said. “So how was it, do you like your room . . .?”

“I love it! This is so cool!” Peter gushed, looking up at his dad still hugging Buddy. “I mean, is it strange that this reminds me of my room in Queens but just bigger?”

Tony’s lips quirked up in a smile as his son continued to ramble. “Well, the aim was to make this as home-like as possible for you, you know.”

“Thanks dad.” Peter beamed at him.

“Anything for you, kiddo. Anyway, put down your backpack. We’ve got some things to do. Meet me in the living room. Okay?” Tony backed out of the room.

“Wait, what are we gonna do?”

“You’ll see.” Tony was already rounding in the corner, his voice echoing in the hallway.

Peter just shrugged and put his backpack on the bed.

“Let’s go Buddy, to the living room.” Peter said as he started to head out of the room. But then he paused when he noticed something in the corner. He whipped around. “Oh my god, is that a walk in closet? Are you kidding me?!”

 

“Where are your boys?” James Rhodes asked Pepper, as they walked towards the mansion’s living room.

“Actually, they were busy-.”

Rhodes sighed exasperatedly. “Don’t tell me, busy in the lab again? because I swear-” they reached the living room and the scene laid in front of him made him pause.

Happy was pinning Christmas socks on the fireplace mantel, which was situated on the center wall. A three feet cylinder robot was besides Happy, holding another sock to pin on. Beside the fireplace was a huge Christmas tree. Tony was floating in the air with the use of his suit thrusters while Peter was hanging upside down with the help of his webbing sticking on the high ceiling. The two of them were decorating the top part of the Christmas tree.

“-Busy putting up decorations for Christmas.” Pepper finished. She was smiling amusedly, her arms crossed.

“Pep, we’re almost done here. Look-oh hi! Rhodey Bear,” Tony said. “Question, a gingerbread man or a golden star as the final touch for the Christmas tree?”

“Hello, Uncle Rhodey!” Peter greeted then he turned his towards his dad. “Aaandd, I’m still rooting for the star, dad.”

Tony looked at Peter. “You know, a star is like an old fashioned decoration for the topmost part of the tree. We can innovate for something newer.”

“I like the star too.” Happy butted in. his eyes still glued on the socks he’s pinning on.

Tony rolled his eyes. “I’m putting up the gingerbread man.”

Meanwhile, Rhodes was staring wide-mouthed at them, speechless. Pepper continued to smile as she walked towards the couch, where another box of Christmas decorations was laid. She spoke. “Peter, when is May going to come here again?”

“On the 23rd Mom, because she still has work till that day,” Peter called.

“Hey, Rhodey Bear, don’t be rude and just stand there. Help put up the decorations, will you?” Tony asked.

Rhodes shook his head, still amused. He raised his hands in surrender. “All right, all right, what do you want me to do?”

 

 

Peter, still in pj’s, made a dash towards their living room early that Christmas morning, his footsteps reverberating throughout the marble tiled floor. He could already hear distant voices and laughter as he approached the area. He turned and abruptly halted upon reaching the living room, his feet skidding on the floor. The big spacious room was even brighter with the lights coming from the Christmas tree. The usual white and bare walls were greener and redder because of the garlands and decorations. To add the final touch, a low classic Christmas music was humming in the background.

On the couch, Pepper and May were sitting next to each other still in their silk robes. They were laughing about something they were talking about, while his dad was standing in front of them, wearing a santa hat and pj’s. The three immediately saw Peter.

“Pete! Good morning and Merry Christmas.” May greeted him with a wide smile.

“Merry Christmas, Pete, come here.” Pepper invited.

Peter was grinning at them. “Merry Christmas!” He was literally bouncing on his feet as he walked towards them.

“Someone’s very happy today, huh.” Tony said, smiling.

“Of course, it’s Christmas!”

The two ladies laughed as Tony’s smile grew wider. Peter approached him and hugged him.

Tony hugged him back. “Merry Christmas, Son.”

“Merry Christmas, Dad.” Peter answered, a huge grin on his face. Tony briefly kissed his son’s head. Then Peter sat on the couch in between Pepper and his aunt.

“Because it’s Christmas . . .” Tony said, fishing something out of his pj’s pocket. “Here’s your gift kiddo.” Then he threw something to Peter.

With his heightened senses, Peter caught it swiftly. He looked down at his hand. He was holding a key fob.

Peter looked up at his dad with wide eyes. “This is . . . it’s not what I think it is . . . right?”

“Depends on what you’re thinking, what were you thinking?” Tony answered back.

“Am I holding a key to my own freaking car?!”

“Yep, your Christmas gift is waiting in the garage downstairs.”

“Pass your driver’s test first and get your license before you drive that.” May reminded him.

“You know, you can start practice driving around the perimeter with Tony.” Pepper added.

“Good idea.” Tony agreed.

“This is so awesome. . .” Peter whispered in astonishment. He cleared his throat and spoke. “Thank you, uh, my gift for the two of you-” he glanced at Pepper and back at Tony. “-was also downstairs but waiting in the lab.”

“Wow, really?” Pepper said in genuine surprise. She asked playfully. “What is it?”

Peter also shrugged in the same playful manner.

“Who knows,” May said. “He gave me this cute customized wooden doll that he claimed that looked like me.”

Peter turned to his aunt. “That doll really looks like you. It reminds me of you!”

“Then why don’t we go all downstairs so we can all see our gifts, maybe we will also receive matching wooden dolls that will complete the family.” Tony suggested. “And why is it in the lab? Hold on, hypothetically speaking if these are really dolls, you didn’t bring them to life, did you?”

Peter laughed as the three of them stood from the couch and all of them started walking. Peter spoke. “It isn’t you think it is.” A tinge of uncertainty laced his voice. “And I don’t know if you’re gonna like it . . .”

“Of course we’re gonna like it.” Tony interjected. “You could give us rags, and we’d still like it.”

They reached downstairs and towards the lab adjoining the garage. Tony was leading the group as they all entered the lab. Tony tried to play it down but he felt like a seven year old about to receive an endless supply of candy. He was silently excited. People gave him loads of gifts every holidays but it felt more meaningful to receive something from his son for the first time. He didn’t care what it was. As long as it came from Peter, it was already something special.

On the long table, there was a rectangular thin box, twenty four by thirty six in size, was sitting on the table with a red bow on it.

“Oh, wow, what is this?” Tony questioned, as he reached the table. Pepper was beside him. Peter was standing a few feet away from the couple, a little bit nervous about what their reaction would be when they saw it. May was standing beside him. His aunt already knew what it was because she’d helped wrap it and keep it hidden until this very moment.

“They’re going to like it, I’m sure. It’s perfect.” May whispered to Peter, reassuring him.

Peter just nodded, but his nervousness lessened at least a bit. That was the big dilemma. What do you give people who have everything? What do you give the people who gave you everything? May had told him that it didn’t matter how simple it was, the most important thing was the sincerity behind the gift. Peter took his aunt’s advice to the heart. Hopefully, he had made the right choice.

The couple opened the lid of the box and set it aside. Pepper gasped when she saw it. Tony picked it up from the box and lifted it up.

It was a picture of Tony and Pepper in a frame. It was a stolen shot. Pepper’s face, side view, was on close up. She looked like she was in the middle of laughing, while Tony was looking at her with a smile on his face. It was focused just right to highlight the details on Pepper’s face, the faint blush blotting her cheeks like stars in the night, the twinkling of her blue eyes similar to the color of a cloudless summer sky, and her radiant smile like how a sun could be so blindingly bright. And Tony was in the background, looking at her like he’d seen the beauty of the universe in a face of a woman.

With the huge allowance that his dad was giving to Peter, it was enough to save up and buy a DSLR camera.

Taking pictures had started on his phone because his Starkphone had a magnificent lens that captured pictures perfectly, and he’d wanted to take pictures so there was something he could look back and something that would remind him of the great life he was having so far. Until the taking of pictures became too often. Then Ned suggested that he should just buy a camera. And that picture of his mom and dad were the one of the first batch of pictures he took from his newly bought camera. Of course, Peter had already edited out the picture to enhance it more on Photoshop, such as blurring the background a little bit to focus more on his mom and dad and refined the color of the picture.

The couple were silent for a moment, both mesmerized by the picture.

Pepper was the first one to recover and she looked at Peter. Awe was evident in her voice. “Did you take that? God, that is so beautiful, come here, Peter.”

Peter shyly obliged walking towards them.

“So, do you like it?” Peter asked.

“Peter, we love it!” Pepper gushed, putting her arm around Peter’s shoulder. “This is amazing, who would have thought that you had this kind of talent? You’re a natural for taking pictures in the right angle and moment.”

“Pep’s right.” Tony agreed, putting down the frame on the long table and looking to Peter. “That could go to a freaking gallery and that is going inthe living room. I want everyone who’s coming to my house to see that because this is magnificent. Do you want to be a professional photographer in the future?”

Peter was blushing at the compliment. But more importantly, his heart was swelling with joy at how delighted his parents were with his gift. “I-it’s just a hobby for now . . .”

Tony nodded in acknowledgement and looked back at the frame. “I mean, look at that, that has some kind of talent and art. I mean, I’m not an art or photography expert but this is exceptional . . .”

May leaned her elbows on the table at the other end. “Told you they’d like it.” She winked at Peter.

“And now we are already here, why don’t you also take a look at your gift.” Pepper looked down at Peter.

Peter’s eyes widen again when he remembered about the gift he had received from his parents. “Oh, right! Where is it?” He jogged excitedly towards the garage leaving his parents and aunt behind.

“It’s the blue one.” Tony called out.

When he reached the garage, Peter immediately looked for a blue car. Fortunately, there was only one blue car parked in there and he couldn’t help but also let out a gasp when he saw it. It was an Audi RS 5 Coupe and matte blue in color.

“I have a freaking car!” Peter ran towards the car. He gingerly touched the car, as if it was going to vanish out of thin air when touched completely. Then he started taking selfies with it with his phone. He sent the pictures to Ned and Harley. Meanwhile, his parents and aunt were shaking their heads in amusement as they watched Peter continuously take selfies.

“I swear Tony,” May grumbled. “Teach your son properly on driving first. He can’t even drive straight on an empty road.”

“Of course,” Tony answered. “He’s gonna have some hands on exercise from yours truly.”

Later that day, Happy Hogan and James Rhodes came to the mansion. Rhodes brought some special dishes cooked by Mrs. Rhodes, while Happy brought hideous, red sweaters as gifts for all of them. They all wore the sweaters anyway, while digging into the several Christmas dishes laid out on the long table in their dining area.

Rhodes also brought a photo album like what he had promised to Peter a long time ago. Peter gleefully looked through it. In the end, all of them looked at the photo album, laughing at some ridiculous photos of 80's and 90’s version of Tony. Tony tried to defend himself from further embarrassment. He even accused Rhodes of being a traitor. Rhodes just laughed at him harder in response.

Because it also snowed, there had been a snowball fight between team Rhodes and team Stark in the garden. The fight ended with all of them lying on the snowy ground laughing so hard their stomachs hurt.

And when the night came, they had a movie marathon, starting with A Christmas Carol, followed by all three Santa Clause's, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Elf. They were all huddled together in the mansion’s theatre room while passing around a giant bowl of popcorn.

Tony was sitting on the couch with Peter’s head lying on his lap watching the movie. Pepper and May sitting on the other couch while Happy and Rhodes were on the floor talking in quiet voices.

Tony looked at his family. This was the first Christmas he’d spent indoors. He declined attending all the Christmas events and parties so he could have a time like this with his own family. And as he looked down at Peter, whose eyes were drooping, he thought that no amount of parties could be compared to the happiness he felt in that moment. It was rare for Tony, but he felt absolutely content and at peace. He guessed that the magic of Christmas also worked for him and not just for the kids. As if for that day, he temporarily forgot all the problems and burdens he had been carrying since forever.

Unknown to him, his son, Peter was having similar thoughts as his conscious drifted away. His prediction had been right. This was one of the best Christmas ever. There was a smile on his face. A kind of smile that couldn’t be wiped off immediately as days went by. It was a perfect moment, a happiest memory. Something he’d always remember with a beam on his face, something that was going to stay with him forever.

Peter fleetingly remembered mumbling a thank you to his dad for being with him and sharing one of the best days ever.

Months later, they headed off to Venice.

 

“Stop sulking dude, it’s not the end of the world yet.” Harley said, not even bothering to look at Peter as he continued to browse the internet on Peter’s laptop. They were in the Stark mansion and inside Peter’s bedroom. Harley was sitting at the study table while Peter was lying on his back on his bed, with his head dangling at the foot of the bed.

“It is.” Peter mumbled.

Harley rolled his eyes. He turned around on his seat to face his friend. “Trust me, you’ll be able to think of something. You nailed it once, you can nail it again.”

“Yeah, because of some dumb luck,” Peter sat up, sighing.

Harley just shook his head and rolled his eyes once again.

Peter faced Harley. “And why am I the only one stressing over this? It’s already May 20th and we still haven’t come up with something to give dad on his birthday! I thought we were going to be a team on this?”

“Because you’re exaggerating and stop freaking out. We’re going to come up with something before the 29th. Trust me.”

“Oh yeah, what did you give him on his birthday last year?” Peter challenged.

Harley suddenly started snickering. “Oh man, I think last year’s gift was one of my best one yet. I gave him a white shirt that said _‘You’re a freaking troll sometimes but you’re the best –_ but instead of the word _troll_ , it’s a picture of a troll in there slapped in the middle of that shirt. He didn’t get the message and kept on asking why –I quote, “there’s a colourful voodoo doll picture there”, end quote. He even asked if he looked like that.”

Peter burst out into laughter, rolling out from the bed and sitting up. “Oh my god, that shirt came from you? I saw him wearing that the other day!”

“Well, good to know he’s kept it.” Harley shrugged.

“That was insane!” Peter shook his head.

“I know.” Harley said.”So like I said again and again and again, we’ll be able to come with the next best birthday gift.”

Peter sighed, his mind wandering back on his current dilemma.

“Wait,” Harley said. “Have you seen these videos of your dear ol’ papa-?”

“-Dad has a lot of videos.”

“I mean the one where he was just starting to create the second prototype of Iron Man suit,” Harley said.

“And how is this related to our problem at hand here?”

“No relevance-”

“Harley!”

“But hey, I was just asking because those footages were pure gold and if you haven’t seen it, you’re missing out on something big. We can still do the thinking later.”

Peter was silent for a moment contemplating, and then he relented. “Show it to me.” He crawled out from his bed and pushed the bean bag to sit beside Harley as the latter faced the laptop screen.

“I just discovered it by accident,” Harley started typing on the keys. “And I never have regretted that day.”

Moments later, Peter burst out laughing.

“Oh my god!” Peter was clutching his stomach, eyes still fixated on the said video on the laptop. “I didn’t know that dad has some killer moves!”

“I know, right!”

Then the video had finally ended with Peter and Harley still laughing. Suddenly, Peter abruptly stopped laughing when an idea struck him.

Harley looked at him sobering up. “What?”

Peter glanced back at him like he had just won the lottery, his eyes glittering. “I think I already know what’s going to be the best birthday gift.”

Harley stared at him. He narrowed his eyes a bit, catching up on Peter. “Perhaps, are we thinking the same thing . . .?”

“Probably . . .”

Both of them looked back at the laptop screen.

 

Tony knew something was up. He could feel it from the murmurs between Peter and Harley, and their abrupt halt of talking whenever he approached them. From the tense and stumbling of words from Peter when Tony asked them about what they were up to, to the poor alibis from Harley when he asked where he and Peter were going to go. He could’ve easily digged deeper on what the big secret was, but despite his aching curiosity, he decided to let it go for the time being, because it seemed harmless and Friday wasn’t alerting him to anything dangerous that his kids might actually be doing.

He became even more suspicious when Pepper started to act strange on the day of his birthday. He approached his fiancée standing right outside of Stark Industries. She was talking on her phone, which she’d been doing the whole day. He knew that Pepper and her phone were usually a team when it came to work related stuff, but nowadays all clients and business partners who wanted to talk to Pepper were usually being handled by her assistant alone, unless it was really something important. Tony hadn’t gotten a whiff of any news lately that required the urgent attention of his CEO. So that meant something was really going on . . .

He was a meter away from Pepper when he heard her.

“What? You’re not yet ready? But we’re about to go home!” Pepper said in a hushed voice.

“Honey, what’s going on?” Tony asked.

Pepper whipped around with wide eyes and put down her phone ending the call. “T-tony! Hi, you’re here. I thought you were inside.”

“Yeah that was before and now I was outside and ready to go home. So we can go the reservation you made in a restaurant for my birthday later . . .”

“You know, uh can we go first to this perfume store? I just received a call that my favourite limited edition perfume had just arrived, so . . .”

“Okay, no problem, we can go.” Tony said.

They started to walk towards their car when Tony spoke. “Why Happy’s on leave again?”

“H-he said, he’s going to do something important that I have no idea what it’s all about . . .” Pepper said a little hastily. They stopped by their car.

“That’s weird, Happy usually tell his reasons why he’s off duty and now he’s being secretive and suddenly taking a leave of absence when he never done that before. . .” Tony stated.

“Well, people change,” Pepper shrugged.

“But not Happy.” Tony opened the car door for Pepper and looked once again at her. “You do realize you’re acting weird.”

“I am not!”

“Then why do you look so jumpy?”

“You are just imagining things, Tony.” Pepper rolled her eyes climbing in the car.

When Pepper was already seated inside, there was a ping on her phone. There’s a text from Peter.

_We need more time, mom! We’re having some technical difficulties. We’ll give you a go signal if it’s okay to go home. Love you! –Peter._

Pepper sighed. Truth to be told, all of them were planning a surprise birthday party for Tony. Happy wasn’t actually on leave but he was in the Stark mansion helping to prepare for this party, together with Rhodes, May and of course, Harley, Peter and Ned. And Pepper’s job on this surprise was obviously to keep Tony out of the house for that day while they prepared everything. She even set up a meeting at Stark Industries that she forced Tony to go to, much to Tony’s complaint that it was supposed to be his day off because it was his birthday. Pepper, with a roll of her eyes, just reasoned that his presence was urgently needed for it. All Tony knew that was going to happen on his birthday was a simple dinner party in a restaurant, which was a lie and which was Pepper’s idea, so that nothing would look suspicious. The whole party was actually set up in the house.

However, the whole week preparing for this party was kind of hard, especially keeping Tony from it and especially when her fiancé was perceptive, like right now, and how they were having some hopefully minor bumps setting up this party. Her hands were tapping furiously on the screen of her phone as Tony opened the car door and climbed in. She needed to contact her favourite sales lady in this perfume store and give her a heads up to release the limited edition perfume they have.

“So, to the perfume store first before house?” Tony asked starting the ignition.

“Yep.” Pepper answered, her fingers flew on the screen of the phone

“Are you sure nothing’s really going on? You and your phone were more intimate today . . .”

“None, I was just checking some of our international deals, nothing that I can’t handle.” Pepper was looking simultaneously at Tony and hit the send button on her phone.

Tony was manoeuvring out of the parking lot. “Okay . . .” Though he was still weird out by his fiancée’s actions.

 

 

Two hours later, Tony and Pepper finally arrived at Stark mansion.

Tony turned to Pepper. “You know, the perfume you bought wasn’t really your taste, it’s too fruity. I can’t believe that was the limited edition perfume you’ve been waiting for. No offense to that.”

The whole trip to perfume store almost turned into a disaster, the only limited edition perfume available that time was a fruity scent, and like Tony said, she didn’t really like it but she was forced to buy it because of her alibi. Thankfully, Mindy, the sales lady was quick to catch up on Pepper and went along with her acting.

“I have my days.” Pepper defended. “I sort of like that kind of scent lately.”

“Right.” Tony said and looked around when they reached the quiet and empty living room. “Wait, where’s everyone? They should be here for the dinner. Or will they just go straight to the restaurant?”

“Actually about that . . .” Pepper was suddenly grinning excitedly.

“Honey, you are really starting to creep me out.”

Pepper laughed out loud and held Tony’s hand. “Come with me.” Then she dragged her fiancé to the other way.

“What? Where are we going?” But Tony was following Pepper’s lead anyway.

“You’ll see.” Pepper continued to grin.

“You’re not going to bring me in a secluded area and axe my head off to do some sacrificial ritual on my birthday, right?” They climbed on the grand staircase and turned to a long corridor.

Pepper laughed again in response.

“And we’re going to the theatre room, why?”

They both stopped in front of the door of the theatre room. She opened the door and shoved Tony inside.

“Wha-”

“Enjoy!” Pepper was smirking as she closed the door.

Tony spoke to the closed door. “Why are you imprisoning me here on my birthday? I knew it, this is part of the sacrificial ritual-”

Suddenly the room dimmed.

_“The truth is, I am Iron Man . . .”_

Tony turned. The big screen attached to the wall glowed to life, showing his own face when he announced to the world that he was indeed, Iron Man. He walked towards the center for a better view of it.

A countdown was now being displayed on the screen. Tony was still confused on what was going on but he sat anyway, because the video on the screen caught his interest.

The countdown ended and a bare wall appeared. Tony recognized that wall in Peter’s bedroom. Then suddenly, Peter jumped in on the frame.

_“Hi dad! Happy Birthday! Since we don’t know what else to give you because you’re the man who has everything, we decided to just do a birthday video to you as a gift and by we, that means –dude!”_

The camera shifted to the right and someone in Iron Man toy mask came into view. He spoke in a faux deep voice. _“I am Iron Man.”_ He plucked off the mask revealing Harley’s face.

“ _Where did you get that?”_ Peter’s voice demanded in the background.

 _“So how long you’ve been a fan of Iron Man?”_ Harley glanced somewhere on his right.

_“We’re supposed to be making a video for dad, remember?”_

_“Right.”_ Harley looked down at the camera. _“So as the greatest fanboy of Iron Man said-”_

_“-Harley!”_

_“As Peter said, we made a video for you Tony, please don’t cry after watching this.”_

_“Seriously.”_

Tony shook his head in amusement as he watched his kids. He was smiling nonetheless.

The video shifted on another scene, this time it was showing the younger version of him in undershirt, dancing to the tune of Jingle bells Jarvis remix.

“Oh come on!” Tony muttered. “How did they get this?”

He remembered that video, it was the time that he was testing out his prodigal son, Mark 42. He watched through it, even though he already knew how it went. Him, face first on the ground was how that scene ended. The video came back on Peter. It was the same wall background but this time, he was sitting on a folding chair with a serious look on his face. He has a fake moustache on and wearing a coat.

Peter spoke imitating a voice of a news anchor _. “Good morning, America. You just watched the hidden side of Tony Stark, the truth is, he was a straight up nerd and a dork. And we’re about to show you more about this hidden side. . .”_

“Really . . .” Tony deadpanned.

Another scene started where a younger version of himself were just starting to create the second Iron man prototype suit after getting out from the cave of Afghanistan.

 _“Okay, let’s do this right . . .”_ The younger version of Tony said from the screen. He was about to test the first prototype for the thrusters. Younger Tony was stepping back on the mat. _“Start mark, half a meter and back and center . . .”_ He looked back at Dummy. _“Dummy, look alive. You’re on standby for fire safety.”_ Then he turned to his other robot. _“You, roll it. Okay, activate hand controls.”_ Younger Tony readied himself. _“We’re gonna start nice and easy . . . We’re gonna see if 10% thrust capacity achieves lift . . .”_

Present Tony cringed in advance. “Oh boy, you’re in for some pain . . .”

Tony watched through the video and watching it again after a very long time made his heart swell. It was the moment where he’d practically started everything. It reminded him of every pain, bruise and callus he’d gained while doing the Mark II, but he also remembered the perseverance it had taken to finish it, because the suit was also his salvation, to correct the past mistakes he made. To finish the battle that started with him. What he didn’t know that time was how the suit would change his life forever. The battles didn’t end though. He acquired some scars. He acquired some friends. There were scars that were permanently embedded in him, but he didn’t mind, because those were the scars that shaped him and enlightened him on what kind of man he was supposed to be.

And that’s when younger Tony announced and owned it on the screen. “Yeah, I could fly.”

Tony’s mind was brought back to the reality when the scene cut off and Peter on the folding chair and same attire appeared on the screen. This time he wasn’t alone, he was with Harley who was sitting on the same folded chair with the same moustache and attire. The serious looks were still on their faces that Tony snorted a laugh while shaking his head on how ridiculous his kids looked.

“I was thinking. . .” Harley commented. “What if the said video was posted online? I’m sure as hell it’s going to be viral. . .”

That’s when Tony’s smile slipped on his face. “Don’t you dare kid . . .”

“And I’m sure as hell, dad’s going to kill you for it.” Peter commented back. “And I would just be in the background watching you get slaughtered.”

“You are such a wonderful friend, Parker.” Harley said. Then he turned to the camera. “I was just kidding Tony, I know you’re hiding that in the deepest part of your treasure chest for a reason and I’m that good not to break your trademark cool charisma and all on the media. So anyway, you thought the video’s done but nope, there’s more-”

“-there’s more? What more?” Tony spoke out loud.

Peter spoke. “And dad, hope you brought at least a handkerchief with you because we are diving on a next level of-”

“-drama.” Harley supplied. “And I already bet ten bucks with Parker that you’re going to shed tears with this. Here’s the birthday messages!”

Suddenly, Ned Leeds’ face appeared on the screen who looked mildly confused. He appeared to be sitting on a bench at Midtown Tech. “What? What message? I am going to give a birthday message to Tony Stark-?”

“Yes, Ned I just said that.” Peter’s voice appeared in the background.

“Wow.” Ned’s confusion turned into awe. “W-what am I supposed to say –he’s Tony Stark, what more could I say to Iron Man-”

“-Ned, really?” Peter sounded exasperated.

“Happy birthday, Tony, you’re awesome as always!” Ned finally said and grinned.

“There, done. How hard was that?” Peter said.

The scene changed.

“Oh, is this angle okay?” May asked shifting on her seat on the couch at their apartment in Queens.

“Yeah, aunt May you’re doing great.” It was Peter’s voice in the background again. “Now, uh, with the message.”

That’s when May’s face turned serious. “You know Tony, I know you already know this that you can be an ass sometimes-”

“-aunt May!”

May raised her hand signalling Peter to be quiet. “But you’re being such a good father to Peter, that’s why I’m forgiving you for bringing my nephew to a _retreat-”_ She air quoted the retreat. “-in Germany.”

“What?” Tony said unbelievingly, though he was smiling widely. “That was awesome!”

“Happy birthday to you and wish you all the best!” May finished.

Happy’s frowning face greeted Tony next. He was half-sitting at the hood of a black car. “I don’t know what’s happening, Harley was asking me for some message to you on your birthday. Like is this video greeting a thing now?”

“Happy, video greeting was a thing a long time ago.” Harley’s voice echoed.

“Since when?” His frown deepened.

“I’ll tell you later after you finished the video message.” Harley answered.

“Oh, should I start reminiscing on how I met Tony back in 1998, I don’t know how video greeting were supposed to work-”

“Uh, how about, let’s make it short and brief.” Harley said. “We can do the series of How You Met Tony Stark some other time.”

“Oh, let’s fast forward then to 2000,” Happy was intently looking at the camera. “You’ve been a really great friend to me Tony and I don’t know how my life would be right now if I didn’t meet you. You’re a great friend and you’ve been through a lot, you deserve the happiest birthday.” Happy suddenly looked away.

“Oh my god, Happy, are you crying?” Harley said, flabbergasted.

“Are you kidding me?” Tony was more amazed. “Happy never cries! We really need to talk Happy.”

“I’m not.” Happy snapped back to the camera wiping the side of his left right eye. “There was dust in my eye. Happy birthday to you Tony. Now turn that thing off.”

James Rhodes was also half-sitting at the edge of a table scratching his cheek appeared on the screen. “Tony and I have been together since the MIT days, he was still skinny as hell that time. And I miss those days when our only problem was how to sabotage our douchebag quantum physics professor.”

“Right.” Tony agreed.

“And now, we’ve come a long way.” Rhodes continued. “We’ve had some great adventures together, some mishaps too but I don’t regret those misfortunes we experienced together nor would I trade it for anything else because we’ve been there for each other, supporting each other through thick and thin, and that kind of friendship was something so priceless. All those years, I witnessed how you evolved and became a stronger person that you are now, a true man of Iron, indeed but with a good heart.” Rhodes smiled. “Wish you the best, Tones, Happy Birthday.”

Tony looked down briefly. Okay, Harley seemed to be winning the bet. The messages were doing some warm bubbly feeling on his chest and his eyes were getting misty.

“Sup, Tony.”

Tony glanced up to see Harley on the screen. He smiled. Harley appeared to be sitting at his study table in his dorm room.

“Uh, actually I don’t know what to say without making a whole drama,” Harley admitted. “But you know, aside from my mom you’re one of the greatest persons who ever walked into my garage. And ever since that day, you’ve never left like I thought you would, unlike someone I know.” Harley drummed his fingers on the table.

Tony immediately knew who he was referring to, Harley’s dad.

“Happy Birthday to you, Tony and I felt like I never said this enough, but thank you for everything. You’re also like a dad to me you know, there I said it. I guess just stay cool and golden.”

“Oh my god, what else am I going to say to you Tony.” Pepper came into view. She was sitting on the couch in her office in her usual crisp suit. “I felt like I’ve already said everything I have to say to you. But first off, happy birthday, hon. I am glad that you are surrounded by these wonderful kids who were making an effort to do something on your birthday.”

“He has you too, mom.” Peter shouted in the background.

“And you’re wonderful too.” Harley added.

“Damn right it is.” Tony spoke.

Pepper laughed. “Thank you. Anyway, for all the things you’ve been through Tony, all I ever wanted is your happiness and safety. More birthdays we can celebrate together. I, waking up and you’re the first thing I’m going to see in the morning is one of my favourite times of the day. . . ”

There were chorused of _aww_ that came from Peter and Harley.

She laughed again. When she sobered up, she spoke again. “And I hope that it will be like that forever. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Tony. I love you and I’m also lucky to have you. And I’m going to be always here for you no matter what. Once again, Happy Birthday.”

The scene shifted and the camera seemed to still on a certain part of a room and Tony recognized it to be Peter’s room in Queens. The camera seemed to be sitting on a study table. There was no one around until . . .

“Ow!” The table suddenly rattled making the camera shook and Peter’s voice echoed somewhere. Then Tony’s son emerged from underneath the table rubbing his head. “Just getting the memory card underneath, all the video messages was here and Harley is not going to be happy if I lost the chip.” Peter settled down on the chair holding the memory card. He put the memory card inside a small transparent plastic case and set it aside.

“So, hi dad!” Peter greeted looking at the camera. “Happy birthday to you! All these months and sometimes I was still having a hard time believing that I’m calling you a dad. Look, you were just here for the first time months ago, roasting my makeshift suit and asking me if I’ve ever been to Germany. That time, we didn’t even know that we share the same DNA. This was the first time I was going to be with you on your birthday, I guess, I just want it to be worthwhile and special. Pretty much everyone already said how awesome you are and I felt like there’s nothing left for me to say. I’m just glad that you’re my dad and I wish that we could spend a lot more birthdays in the future, more superhero gig lessons 101 and more tinkering together. The whole world knows you as Iron Man but for me you’re just this dad who’s always there for me and I’m really grateful for it-”

He was interrupted by the door opening outside of his room.

“Pete, you in there?” May called out.

He looked at his side at the direction of the door. “Yeah, I’m here.”

“Come out here, then. I bought Chinese for dinner for a change.”

“Yeah, wait, I’ll be out in a sec.” Peter called back. Then he looked back at the camera.“Guess, gotta run, May’s been calling me. And uh, dad, I just wanted you to know that you’re going to be always my mentor and hero and no one can replace you on that. Happy Birthday.” Peter reached for the camera and the screen went black.

Tony had no time to recover when the lights brightened in the room and the door opened. Everyone who gave him video messages was flooding in led by Pepper who was holding the cake with a candle lit on it. Some of them were holding balloons and party poppers. They were singing a happy birthday song to him as they walked towards him. All Tony could do was sat there and watched them approached him and yeah tears threatening to fall from his eyes.

“Aha! Knew it!” Harley exclaimed. “You’re going to cry!”

“Dust in my eyes.” Tony immediately rubbed his face. He stood up and met them. “I thought we’re going to have a simple and quiet party.”

“This was still far behind from the birthday parties you organized before.” Pepper was standing in front of him.

“Touché. I like this more.” Tony reached for Pepper’s lips.

“Happy birthday, Tony.” Pepper smiled when he pulled away. “And please blow your candle.”

“Make a wish first, dad!” Peter interrupted. His camera was slung around his neck.

“Oh, right, right!” Pepper said. “Wish first.”

“What else could I wish for, everything I wanted was here in front of me, family, friends. . . ”

“That’s really cute of you, Tones.” Rhodes said.

“Yep,”

“But still make a wish, dad!” Peter insisted.

“All right, all right . . .” Tony looked down at the candle producing a small flame, like a beacon of new hope for him.

Peter held the camera on his face and took a shot of his dad, capturing that very moment, the twinkling in his soulful brown eyes and the genuine smile plastered on his face. It was a moment of pure bliss. It was a moment beyond compare. And Peter wanted to preserve it.

 _I wish that everything would stay like this for a long time._ Tony blew the candle and everyone cheered. May, Ned and Happy popped the party popper releasing a loud bang in the air then there were confetti flying everywhere showering all of them.

“Happy Birthday, dad.” Peter approached him and hugged him.

“Thank you.” Tony hugged him back

“I love you, dad.” Peter said, still hugging him

Without missing a beat, Tony replied back. “I love you too, son.”

Tony thought in the later months that his birthday wish had been truly granted. Everything was so peaceful (as peaceful as it could be for someone like Tony Stark) that he felt like sometimes that the serenity of his life was too good to be true. There were still occasional mishaps from time to time, but it was all things that they could easily handle.

All was going well.

Until Tony received a visit from a wizard and a giant metal ring appeared in the sky.

Everything went downhill from there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited again: Extended series for Twist of Fate: Family Ties. Check it out!
> 
> Thank you for supporting and reading the Twist of Fate.


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